Making London Bridge Carbon Neutral

 

The last couple of weeks have seen parts of London, and London Bridge, come to a standstill with the Extinction Rebellion protests. While disruptive for many of our businesses, it has raised alarm bells about the critical issue of climate change.

Climate change has been declared as an emergency this summer by the UK Government, the Mayor of London and Southwark Council. We can see the disruption of more extreme climate already in London Bridge and the disruption it causes to business; be it record-breaking temperatures causing havoc with the commute and offices sending people home in the heat, or localised flooding.  

Southwark aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, London aims to be a carbon zero city by 2050, while the UK Government aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. These are serious targets, which will require a serious approach and huge change, but too often it is hard to know how best to act. 

At Team London Bridge, we have always been tasked by our business community to provide sustainable projects and services. This has involved greening, recycling, promotion of green logistics (Bikes for Business), reduction of single use plastic, as well as our regular Green Network discussions. In our London Bridge Plan, based on consultation, we set out a vision for a Green Grid – to be “one of the greenest, most beautiful, environmentally sensitive and civic minded business districts in the world”.

Could London Bridge lead the way in becoming a carbon positive business district in the next ten years, and what would be the best way to achieve that?

We want our businesses to help us to answer these questions and bring their passion, ambition and expertise to the table, so that London Bridge continues to be a pioneering place of modern business and enterprise. We are working with Useful Projects to understand how we, as a business district, can reduce our environmental footprint, with a focus on carbon which is a new area for us.

We invite you, our business community, to take part in a workshop to take sustainability forward in London Bridge, on 26th November. It is a huge challenge, so it is very exciting to be able to work with such a dynamic business community working across so many sectors. 

Contact jack@teamlondonbridge.co.uk for more details.