Progress on priorities: London's Environmental temperature check

It is almost a decade on from the Mayor’s election pledge to make London the “greenest global city,” eight years since the London Environment Strategy was published, and four years until London’s net zero target. Yet, pressures from climate change, pollution, and the need to protect nature remain urgent.

Against this backdrop, the Environment Committee is taking stock of where London stands and where it needs to go next. The Committee will invite Londoners, policy experts and frontline environmental practitioners to submit their views and experiences to the Committee, and participate in roundtables on 3 February 2026, to share their views on the most pressing environmental issues and challenges facing the capital, as well as to highlight areas of progress.

The insights gathered will help shape the Committee’s scrutiny of the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy in March 2026, and inform the development of priority areas for future London Assembly investigations.

• To assess progress on key issues identified by the London Environment Strategy in 2018 and assess progress on the Mayor’s current priorities – as defined by mandates and delivery plans.
• To inform the development of priority areas for future Committee work.

• When elected in 2016, the Mayor promised to be the “greenest Mayor London’s ever had”. Since that time, the Mayor has made a number of other significant environmental commitments, including declaring a ‘climate emergency’ in December 2018, and committing London to a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2030.
• The Mayor of London is required to produce a London Environment Strategy. This was last published in 2018. The GLA Act requires it to cover biodiversity; municipal waste management; climate change mitigation and energy; adaptation to climate change; air quality; and ambient noise.
• The Mayor’s manifesto for the 2024 elections included several environmental commitments. Following the election, the Mayor chose not to update the London Environment Strategy, but instead introduced a system of ‘mandates’ and delivery plans to implement the Mayor’s priorities. The Environment priorities are included in a number of these, including MD3384 Delivery Plan – Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London, MD3400 Delivery Plan – Cleaning London’s Air and Reducing non-residential emissions (delivery plan yet to be published). The GLA started reporting progress against these delivery plans for the first time in November 2025 through the Q2 Corporate Performance Report.

• What progress is London making on key environmental indicators?
• What are the main barriers to progress, and what further action is needed – from the Mayor and other stakeholders?
• What has been the experience of Londoners and London’s environmental groups working to improve London’s environment over the past decade? What lessons can be shared?
• What further action is needed to achieve the Mayor’s environmental goals for London?
• Are there topics or issues which have been overlooked, which the Environment Committee should scrutinise in greater detail?