The City of London Corporation has announced plans to source 100% renewable electricity from October 2018 onwards. This goal is to be achieved through a combination of generating electricity on the buildings it owns, investing in off-site green energy, and buying green electricity already available on the market.
The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the financial district in London, known as the Square Mile. As a service provider, it manages a wide portfolio across six London boroughs that includes schools, social housing, and 11,000 acres of green space. It is also an investor in properties and other corporate buildings. The City Corporation already generates renewable electricity at a number of its sites, including the Parliament Hill Lido on Hampstead Heath.
In similar news, Samsung has committed to source all of its energy from renewables by 2020 in Europe, the US, and China. Samsung has additionally confirmed that it will begin working with CDP next year on a supply chain programme that will help to drive the uptake of renewables beyond its front-line operations.
CDP runs a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. In 2017, a total of 160 businesses were recognised as being on the “A list” of pioneers acting on climate change, water security, and deforestation.
The announcement from the City of London Corporation follows a recent commitment from Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, to make London the greenest global city. The new strategy, presented to the London Assembly, sets out a strategy that targets all aspects of the environment in one by including air pollution, transport, energy efficient buildings, energy, and recycling. London is expected to be compliant with nitrogen dioxide limits by 2025, but the Mayor would like to achieve compliance before this and to adopt tighter air quality controls. It is also planned to set specific carbon budgets for London, with the first budget equating to a 40% reduction in emissions by 2018-2022 (against 1990 levels). The government already sets carbon budgets on a UK-wide basis, which restrict the amount of greenhouse gas the UK can legally emit in a five-year period.
