EIR - How the GLA is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions [Feb 2023]

Your request

1. Confirmation of the achievements to date by the GLA reducing its own emissions. What percentage reduction of carbon reduction has been achieved by the GLA to date? 
2. Any interim targets that have been set to meet the 2030 net zero goal. 
3. An explanation of the difficulties facing the GLA in achieving any interim targets. 
4. Details of the practical steps being taken to achieve the goals and targets. 
5. Any other information that you may feel is helpful to us to better understand how the GLA is reducing its GHG emissions and meeting its 2030 targets.

Your response

Question 1

The London Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory (LEGGI) is an emissions inventory which quantifies greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released to the environment. It also quantifies emissions removed through Land Use, Land Change and Forestry sector activities. It is produced on an annual basis to measure progress against the Mayor's CO2e reduction targets for London. 

The inventory provides emissions in the following five categories:
I. Stationary Energy
II. Transport
III. Waste
IV. Industrial processes and product use (IPPU)
V. Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU)

Publications earlier than the 2018 LEGGI only included emissions in the first two of these 
categories. However, LEGGI now provides estimates of these additional sectors for earlier  years. 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting restrictions introduced in 2020 across London and the UK had major impacts on various aspects of society and the economy, which had a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

2020 statistics should therefore be cited with caution, and we expect to see an increase in emissions in 2021. 

In 2020, London’s CO2e emissions were 28.1m tonnes, down from 31.5m tonnes in 2019. This is a 38 per cent reduction on 1990 levels and a 45 per cent reduction since the peak of emissions in 2000. Despite an ever-increasing population – an increase of nearly 32 per cent since 1990 and significant economic growth over that period, London’s per capita emissions have reduced by 53 per cent, from 6.7 tCO2e in 1990 to 3.1 tCO2e in 2019.

Compared to the rest of the UK, London has the lowest CO2 per capita emissions of any region. 

Most sectors have seen a significant reduction in emissions over the last few decades. This is largely due to the nation-wide decarbonisation of electricity but interventions such as London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and the Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund have helped to further reduce emissions in London. 2020 emissions are compared with 1990, 2000 and 2019 in Table 1. 

Question 2

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has set a target for London to be net zero carbon by 2030. 

To support this ambition, he has commissioned experts Element Energy to analyse the 
possible pathways to achieving net zero. 

The Mayor has selected a preferred pathway to net zero - the Accelerated Green pathway. 

There are no interim targets as action is needed by all stakeholders in London as well as the Government, but the pathway identifies at least the following as being required by 2030.

Nearly 40 per cent reduction in the total heat demand of our buildings, requiring over 2m homes and a quarter of a million non-domestic buildings to become properly 
insulated

2.2m heat pumps in operation in London by 2030

460,000 buildings connected to district heating networks by 2030

A 27 per cent reduction in car vehicle km travelled by 2030

Fossil fuel car and van sales ended by 2030 and enforced, in line with Government’s 
existing commitments.

The Mayor’s response to the Element Report explains the key issues, benefits and challenges of the four possible pathways and why the Accelerated Green pathway is the preferred option for London. 

Question 3

The biggest barriers to achieving the 2030 net zero target is a lack of leadership from the
Government and financing and devolution of powers to deliver the activity at the pace and 
scale required. 

With a 2030 target, the costs of the transition are front loaded. Taking action to tackle 
London’s carbon emissions will require substantial investments in capital infrastructure across our buildings, energy networks and transport systems. The Accelerated Green scenario requires at least £75bn of investment between now and 2030 in infrastructure and £108bn in total to 2050. 

Delivery of the net zero ambition will require the GLA to work with local and national 
government, utilities, business, finance institutions and Londoners to find the right funding 
mechanisms to support the infrastructure that is needed. High levels of finance and new 
business models will need to be mobilised extremely quickly to enable the level of action 
needed, which is why the Mayor is planning to create a London Climate Finance Facility, 
supported by private institutions, with the aim of mobilising greater sums of finance over the decade. 

Government needs to devolve funding to the GLA and allow us to develop the programmes that will support the delivery of our net zero ambitions. Programmes a far better developed and delivered at a regional/local level as they can respond to local needs and markets and support supply chains in a way that a national programme can’t. 

Asks we have made of government include:

Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding should at least equal a region’s 
contribution, with scheme rules devolved to the regions, as it has to the Scottish 
Government.

A near term date for banning replacement fossil fuel systems in existing buildings rather 
than 2035, as they have done for new build 

Tighter Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, expanded to more tenures, with 
loopholes removed, and enforcement adequately funded.

Redress of the balance between electricity and gas levies so that electricity bears less 
tax burden than higher-carbon gas-based heating.

The Planning and Energy Act has been instrumental in enabling London to set an 
ambitious and consistent policy approach, maintaining a clear pathway towards the 
city’s 2030 net zero target and consistently be able to set standards that go beyond 
national standards. To ensure that standards for new buildings do not slip backwards to 
a lowest common denominator, it is essential that government confirms in the 
forthcoming Future Homes Standard consultation that local authorities will continue to 
retain their existing powers in the longer-term. 
 
Question 4

Below is a summary of the projects we are undertaking to meet the net zero 2030 target.

More information can be found via the links.

Climate Budgets for the GLA Group 

London’s first climate budget, for 2023-24, focuses on measures to reduce emissions from the GLA Group itself. Through its policies and programmes, the GLA can have 
an impact on these wider sources of emissions, but this budget specifically focuses on emissions solely arising from the operation of the GLA estate and fleet. 

The climate budgets for the respective organisations within the GLA Group can be found below with a summary of the work that is being undertaken to get to net zero by 2030: 

• GLA Mayor and GLA Assembly
• MOPAC
• London Fire Commissioner
• Transport for London

         *Their Climate Budget Tables A and B are here

• London Legacy Development Corporation 
• OPDC - OPDC Draft Budget Narrative 2023-24
• OPDC Draft Budget 2023/24 – Revenue 
• OPDC Draft Budget 2023/24 – Capital 
• OPDC Draft Budget 2023/24 – Climate 

Planning 

London is still the only major city in the UK to have a net zero-carbon standard for major new developments but Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh are all expected to adopt net zero standards in 2023. Through our planning powers we go well beyond national requirements, achieving nearly a 50 per cent reduction in the emissions from proposed new developments when compared to the levels that would have been produced merely to meet national Building Regulations.

Our achievements are detailed in this report. 

Where developers cannot achieve further onsite reductions, they must offset emissions.

Since 2016, the Mayor’s carbon offsetting policy has realised £145m across London, including £19.3m in 2021, of funding to London boroughs for their climate activities.

More details are available in this report. 
 
The Mayor’s Warmer Homes Programme is helping deliver a net zero London whilst tackling London’s shocking numbers of fuel poor homes. 

A record £40.2m in Sustainable Warmth Funding was secured from the Government to 
upgrade 3,200 fuel poor homes in 2022-23. This will be delivered through the Warmer Homes programme Phase 3, (further details in the link)
 
The Mayor of London’s Retrofit Accelerator - Homes is helping to transform the way 
London upgrades its ageing and energy-inefficient housing to create warm, affordable 
and ultra-low carbon homes. Launched in February 2020, this is a technical advice and 
support programme helping social housing providers cut carbon and reduce energy bills 
by drastically improving the energy efficiency of their homes through a ‘whole-house’ 
approach. 
 
The Retrofit Accelerator - Homes Innovation Partnership (RA-HIP) is aiming to deliver 
a pipeline of whole house retrofits. Seven social housing providers and four building firms 
are signed up to this framework. 
 
The Retrofit Accelerator - Workplaces (formally RE:FIT London) was established in 2009 
and over 680 public sector buildings have been supported to date through the, saving over 
30,400 tonnes of carbon and 132 MWh of energy each year. 
 
Local Energy Accelerator (LEA) 

LEA is a £6m programme providing expertise and support to organisations to develop clean and locally generated energy projects. 

Launched in June 2021, Solar Skills London aims to grow the capital’s solar energy sector by creating career pathways for the next generation of solar experts, increasing the number of registered solar installers in London and helping create more green jobs. 

Solar Together London 

Phases 1-3 of the Mayor’s successful group purchasing scheme supported 979 homes with high quality, competitively priced solar PV panels. Phases 4 and 5 are currently in delivery.
The London Community Energy Fund provides much-needed support to get community 
energy projects up and running and deployed faster to reboot the economy and benefit 
hard-hit communities. 
 
The Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF) is a £500m investment fund to deliver the low carbon, sustainable projects and infrastructure London needs to tackle the climate 
emergency. Since its launch in July 2018, MEEF has provided investment to public 
authorities and the private sector, mobilising over £250m of capital and reducing 
London’s CO2 emissions by more than 15,000 tonnes per year. 

Financing 

In February 2022 the Mayor announced that he is providing £90m of funding and going to issue an initial £500m Green Bond to support activity across the GLA group and strategic partners as part of the GLA’s Green Finance Programme, as we work to raise private sector finance to support London in delivering climate related projects that help get us to net zero by 2030. The £90m will be broken down with the majority of funding going to support the investment through the Green Finance programme, including the green bond, and the rest, importantly, to develop a pipeline of bankable projects for investment. 
 
The Green New Deal Fund is a key part of the Mayor’s ambitions to make London a net zero carbon city by 2030 and the capital’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. The Mayor 
announced £10m of Green New Deal Funding in November 2020 to support environmental projects which should secure around 1,000 jobs for Londoners. 
 
The 2021 the Business Climate Challenge pilot was successfully delivered – it 
challenged 20 businesses in the Better Bankside BID to reduce their building energy 
consumption by 10 per cent in 12 months. The scaled-up version is now in delivery with 
nine businesses engagement partners having recruited 225 businesses onto the 
programme. 
 
The Better Futures Programme provides SMEs with access to the technical and 
business expertise to help them optimise prototypes and services for the market and 
develop their business for growth investment. 
 
Future Neighbourhoods (FN) will act as exemplars for what London will look like in 2030. 
The FNs continue to engage and involve their communities and are implementing projects 
including work on cycle lanes, healthy schools, growing places, mobility hubs, air quality, 
energy efficiency, heat network extensions, circular economy markets, carbon offsetting, 
youth training, apprenticeships and community engagement. 
 
Cumulatively since 2019 it is estimated the ULEZ has led to a reduction of around 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from vehicles across London over the four-year period compared to without the ULEZ, a saving of 3 per cent.

Within the ULEZ area this is a saving of 290,000 tonnes, a reduction of 4 per cent over the same period. Details of the achievements so far can be found in the ULEZ - One Year Report. 
 
The Mayor has delivered more than 300 rapid charge points for electric vehicles. London now has over 11,500 charge points (around a third of the UK’s total), of which 850 are rapid or ultra rapid. London continues to lead the way with 111 electric charging points per 100,000 population – more than double the UK average of 45. 
 
London has a fully ULEZ compliant bus fleet (c.9,000 buses), cutting bus-related NOx 
emissions by 90 per cent, with over 800 zero emission buses on London’s roads, the largest zero emission fleet in Western Europe with a target of all buses being zero emission by 2034 and hopefully sooner but this is contingent on funding. 
 
Question 5

Please refer to the Environment and Climate Change section of our website.
 
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting 
reference MGLA140223-0128.