We can make a greener, more liveable London and expand Heathrow
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Version 0 of 1. The next mayor of London needs to be committed to making our city a better place to live; both more affordable and greener. The high cost of renting, public transport and low wages are one side of the challenge’ while the need to reduce CO2 emissions, tackle air pollution and offer new sources of green jobs are the other. Across the world, many other cities and countries are tackling the challenge with much more speed. London cannot afford to be left behind in this new global competition for more liveable cities. Top of the incoming mayor’s agenda should be a commitment to extend and refine the congestion zone. The scale of air pollution in London is now so severe that urgent action is needed to encourage a switch away from diesel vehicles. We need to use public transport more, which is why I’d cut tube, train and bus fares by 10% on day one of my mayoral term and freeze them for three years – a cut of almost 20% in real terms by 2020. With London growing by an extra 100,000 people a year, greener transport will be critical to tackling air pollution. Low-emission cars, buses and lorries are increasingly being road tested. Car clubs, the new wave of cycling businesses and the new green crowdsourcing platforms are just a few other examples of businesses the mayor should be encouraging. Related: Welcome to the UK's latest national park … London The extra revenue raised from an extended congestion zone needs to be invested in electric cars and buses and making cycling safer. That means extending the number of electric car charging points across the city and setting out a plan tomake London’s buses green. With Formula E – the electric car equivalent of Formula 1 – successfully taking place in London recently, there is a new opportunity to champion a switch to electric cars, reducing pollution dramatically and thereby helping to promote better public health in London. I’d want to put mayoral support behind the new wave of green living – encouraging new ideas for a London urban park, community gardening and other community co-operation. The mayor should also follow the example of Toronto and Paris and introduce a green roofs law, requiring either a green roof or solar panels on any big developments they are responsible for, to promote biodiversity and lower emissions. Renewable energy is rarely promoted as a major part of London’s future. But the new mayor needs to encourage businesses promoting solar power, energy from waste, district heating and show leadership on energy efficiency. Transport for London, under my leadership, would publish a strategy for decarbonising its energy use. With Crossrail and Crossrail 2 on the horizon, TfL is set to become an even bigger user of electricity. It needs to work with London’s sustainable businesses to develop new sources of local power that create jobs and apprenticeships for Londoners and help keep more of the money we spend on energy in Londoner’s pockets, rather than in the pockets of the big six energy providers. Related: Heathrow expansion key to London mayoral contest, says Labour hopeful London has huge untapped potential for generating solar power. I want the solar industry to see London as one of its key hubs – leading the debate in Britain, but increasingly across Europe on how the energy market can be decentralised, opened up to smaller businesses, and where social enterprises and community energy can flourish alongside more traditional businesses. In the same way that farms rent out their land to wind-farmowners and developers, I want London to offer up its roofs for a new wave of solar businesses. I’d start by identifying TfL and City Hall-owned roofs that could be rented out for community or business solar use. And I’d work with digital businesses to help crowdsource the funding for these solar community co-ops and guarantee that TfL would buy up the spare power, if it’s generated in London by Londoners or London businesses. Aviation will dominate the next mayor’s liveability inbox with a third runway at Heathrow firmly on the political agenda. It offers the opportunity to accelerate the greening of the aviation world – with lower-emission aircraft given preference, further incentives to new passengers to use public transport and further investment in low-carbon vehicles on the airport and noise insulation. The most significant cause of pollution from a third runway would be the number of cars travelling to the airport, which is also why I would want to make it a condition that Heathrow invest in the extra public transport links. Lets’ be clear: a third runway is in London’s interest. The 40,000 jobs, 10,000 apprenticeships and the boost to London’s global status are too important to turn our back on, but the new mayor must use their power and influence to turn Heathrow into the world’s greenest airport. By focusing just on Heathrow, it is possible to ignore the urgent action that the next mayor needs to take to decarbonise London’s energy needs and tackle the pollution caused by congestion on our roads. London isn’t Britain’s greenest or most liveable city yet. The next mayor will have failed if there hasn’t been a radical improvement by the end of their time in office. |