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The Environmental Sustainability Policy In London

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Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................3 Powers and Responsibilities of the GLA and the Mayor ...............Error! Bookmark not defined. Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 5 Gap Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 7 Survey of Opinion Regarding the Priorities for London and a Policy ............................................ 9 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 10 References ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Introduction: One of the biggest sporting events namely the Olympics 2012 is scheduled to take place in London and the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Mayor of London are committed to provide the spectators with the best possible forum for entertainment. Various Measures have been developed and enacted in preparation for this great event and much of the planning revolves around ensuring environmental sustainability for the city of London. Through this mega event the GLA and Mayor aims to enact environmental policies and measures that not only make this event successful but also create a sustainable environment that not only meets the need of future generation but also satisfies the need of the present generation. (Stallone 2005). Power and Responsibilities of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Mayor: The GLA is primarily concerned with the strategic development of the city of London. Responsibilities of GLA are vested into three main departments namely the social development, environmental sustainability and the creation of wealth through economic growth. Within these departments the GLA is also responsible for overlooking work pertaining to economic wealth, emergency and fire arrangements, transportation and various municipal policies. In order to execute its duties the GLA works with four bodies that is the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), the Transport for London and the London Development Agency (LDA). The functional bodies of GLA have a wide array of responsibilities ranging from coordinating emergency situation to overseeing the policing services within London. The GLA is also responsible for ensuring sustainable economic growth in the city and managing the transportation system that pertains to the management, maintenance and administration of roads and public transport (GLA 2011). The responsibilities of GLA were

recently reviewed and they have now also been given the added responsibility of waste management and housing development. The running head of GLA is an executive Mayor (at present Boris Johnson) who is appointed with the task of providing the framework for budgets and policies within which the respective committees can work. The Mayor is also entrusted with the task of appointing executives for the function bodies working with the GLA. The primary responsibility of the Mayor is to ensure the smooth running of the city and to avoid all sorts of conflicts. Furthermore he is responsible for devising strategies aimed at improving the city, providing a vision to the public, ensuring availability of funds along with making certain that the city of London remains one of the best cities from across the globe. (Borris, 2010). The housing strategy is also devised by the Mayor and his powers allow him to override the decision made by Boroughs is he feels that they are not in the best interest of the city. (Mayor of London, 2011). The executive powers of the GLA reside within the mayor and therefore he is also responsible for prescribing policies and tasks for the employees of GLA. His responsibilities also extend to defining the budgets for the GLA and its various functional bodies. The vision of the Mayor forms the basis of the work programmers initiated within the GLA and its bodies. The Mayor's vision revolves around the protection of the environment and in ensuring that that his work leaves an environmental footprint in the history of London. (Borris, 2010). Furthermore his energy conservation policies and environmental footprint were initiated with the purpose of reducing Londons contribution to global environmental crises while also focusing on shortages of fuel and the introduction of technologies aimed at reducing carbon emission. (Edwards and Miller 2008)

Literature review: The environmental policies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint and providing a sustainable working environment have been largely introduced and implemented by the Mayor and the GLA. The policies are primarily concerned with waste reduction, carbon offsetting, minimizing air and water pollution, increasing awareness for the environment and lastly biodiversity. The policies also intend to focus on the reduction of construction effects for both the individual and the society at large. The policy of climate change has an underlying theme of one planet principle whereby the focus is placed on zero carbon emission. The policy aims to reduce the carbon emission by trying to curtail the energy demand while also promoting and implementing the usage of zero carbon and renewable energy sources that would enable the minimization of air pollution. Furthermore, 400 trees have been planted till the year 2010. The climate change policy does not only aim to reduce the air pollution but also focuses on water pollution. The policy promotes water efficiency while also placing emphasis on the transportation system that provides a plan based on green travelling. Water conservation is promoted and the citizens are educated on the need to save water on a daily basis. The intricate system of transport within London has also presented a need to develop a transportation policy that enables the achievement of sustainable environment. The transport policy is initiated with the aim of providing modes of transport that minimize the air pollution such as hybrid cars, promotion of public transport, cycling and the use of energy saving technology within the buses and the trains of the London transportation system.

London is responsible for contributing 7% to the total carbon emission from the United Kingdom whereby most of the carbon is emitted from the construction of property. The mayor has placed strict instructions for the usage of carbon neutral material in the construction of housing and GLA has retrofitted 42 offices in order to save energy. Furthermore agencies have been set up to aid in the reduction of carbon emission namely London Energy Partnership, the Climate Leadership Group for large cities and the London Climate Change Agency (Mayor of London, 2010). The environmental policies are also aimed at the reduction of waste with the aim of achieving zero waste and saving 90m annually through waste policies. The policy is focused on the introduction of closed loops of resources. The policy aims to initially reduce the amount of waste and for any waste that is produced the policy aims to first reclaim it, then recycle it and finally recover it. The policy intends to reduce the waste per person to 10% and to reduce the waste recycled to 50%. The environmental policies also extend to provide the residents of London with a healthy lifestyle. The emphasis is placed on sustainable food whereby the consumption of locally produced food is encouraged and efforts are made to grow food in an organic manner. The reduction in the usage of packaging material is repeatedly highlighted and the GLA aims to underpin a sustainable food approach that can help the citizens live a healthy and active lifestyle. However a factor that needs to be emphasized is that if the policy makers aims to achieve the objective of climate change they not only need to introduce pollution free technologies but also integrate the environmental approach into the everyday logistics, engineering, marketing and finance so that the innovation takes place on a large scale.

Furthermore the government policies have restricted the consumers from the right of freedom of choice and rather than enabling the citizens to make the right choice the government is set to control the use of technology. This approach has resulted in the lack of wide scale embracement of the environmental policies initiated by those in charge namely the Mayor and the GLA. The end result is that although many citizens have supported the green environment cause very few of them have actually implemented the schemes in real life. Although the government states that it has achieved a massive reduction in terms of emission per person the report is released by the government body and therefore its figures are questionable. Although the air pollution strategy is quite extensive the implementation is doubtful as a recent report suggested up to 50,000 deaths caused by air pollution. This revealed that the government has been breaking the EU air pollution and quality rules for the past several years and nothing has been done to overcome. The mayor refused to accept full responsibility and it is predicted that the air quality limits will not be met in the foreseeable future. (John Vidal 2010) Despite the criticism of the policy it is nonetheless true that much effort has been expended by the mayor and the GLA to make the London a greener city and their work is showing many positive trends such as waste reduction, low carbon emission and increased awareness amongst the citizens. Gap Analysis: Any policy or strategy that starts from scratch must take time to be realized in its fullest extent. The policies initiated by the Mayor and the GLA are although on their road to achievement much of it is still unrealized. Although the efforts of the mayor and the GLA need

to be appreciated it should also be taken into consideration that the need to build a greener environment needs cooperation of millions rather than the initiatives of the selected few. The zero carbon policy that aims to promote the low carbon emitting technology needs to consider that although the government has set the platform it is the investors, entrepreneurs and the consumers that will ultimately decide the future of a greener London. (Greg Clark 2010). As already mentioned the huge environmental aspect of bringing about a climate change is not the work of a few and therefore the government must educate the citizens if it wants to achieve the desired goals and objectives of environmental sustainability. The government policy of zero carbon gas is based on installation of new technologies that are environmental friendly and this change is viewed as a radical change from business point of view. Although these technologies will result in cost savings in the years to come they would result in massive investment and outflow of cash at this point in time. The very fact has resulted in the entrepreneurs and the business man to be wary of green technology whereby less than half of the companies operating within London have shown an inclination towards investment is energy saving technology. One of the key factors that have widened the gap between the policy and its achievement is the lack of availability of funds. It was estimated that by 2010 10% of the electricity would come from renewable sources generated from school projects. However the lack of funding means that these projects are halted and unable to achieve their desired outcome. It is believed that such innovations cannot survive in the face of unavailability of funds and evidence shows that the gap between the actual and target goals widens day by day.

The mayor aims to make London the greenest city across the world by the year 2025 but the citys transportation system still heavily relies on the usage of carbon and fossil fuel and therefore the single planet theme is far from being achieved. Although, the present transportation system is fuel efficient it is not in line with the environmental policy. Furthermore, companies have adopted a carbon offsetting approach whereby their carbon emission is compensated by investment into projects that use energy saving technology. But the aim of a greener environment is not to compensate for the environmental damages but rather to bring a complete and radical change within the technology usage. Although the mayor and the GLA are highly passionate about making London one of the safest environmental zones much work and effort needs to be put in order to align their actions with their words. Survey of Opinion Regarding the Priorities for London and a Policy: The survey of 2012 revealed that Londoners have come to realize the benefits that the Olympics 2012 will bring and therefore they appreciate the efforts that have been made by the Mayor and the GLA to improve and enhance the environmental image of London. Londoners have also recognized that litter free zone is of great importance to the quality of environment and 24% state that this should be the top priority within the environmental policy. Moreover the conservation of green space has also been given more priority this year as an increase has been noted from 8% to 23% in comparison to the year 2010. Transportation scheme aimed at promoting the use of Bicycle has received wide appreciation with a staggering 95% of the users agreeing that the cycle Hire Scheme is making a positive impact on the London environment. However traffic congestion has been highlighted as a problematic area and therefore the GLA and mayor needs to bring this issue under

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consideration. Conserving of energy is also stated as an important factor effecting the environment and many respondents favored a switch from modern technology towards environmental friendly technology. However the climate change is not regarded as one of the most serious concerns in improving the quality of the environment and this portrays that the GLA needs to focus on changing the attitudes of the Londoners. 72% of the respondents (with varying level of understanding) knew the role that the Mayor was playing to improve the state of London and 31% were satisfied with the policies introduced in the recent years. The basic reason that has been cited with the satisfaction of the Mayors performance is that he is doing a good job and his schemes Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme and the Cycle Superhighways have been widely appreciated as now there are more cycle lanes more people willing to use cycles. The satisfaction with the Mayor is based on his performance while respondents that were unsatisfied mainly stated that the inability to fulfill promises on time creates a source of dissatisfaction. The respondents even felt that they as citizens were not involved in the decision making process and they rarely knew the initiates that were undertaken by the Mayor. Johnson continues to be associated with the transport and Barclays Cycle Hire as opposed to other environmental initiatives. Conclusion: The GLA and the mayor are striving very hard to make London a greener zone whereby a sustainable environment can be achieved. The policies are innovative and aimed at the common man. These policies have been partially successful as portrayed by the survey which shows that attitudes and environmental values are changing. Despite the success the policies have not achieved the desired goals which can be associated with lack of funding and the lack of public

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support. Although the initiates introduced by the government aim to provide a safer and healthier environment to the citizens what the GLA and the mayor needs to realize is that for any policy to be successful there must be full involvement of the Londoners. When those who are at the heart of the issue are not involves a radical change cannot come. Notwithstanding the short comings of the policies the data from various sources suggest that London is on its way to become a green zone in the foreseeable future and much of the credit goes to Johnson and the various committees working under him. Corporation of the citizens and a change in attitude of those in charge along with a display of commitment from authorities would result in the achievement of a sustainable environment and a reduction in the carbon footprint.

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References: Adam Vaughan 2010. What the coalition means for environmental policies. [Online] Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/coalition-environment-policy. Accessed at 4/18/2012 Borris, J. 2010. The Greater London Authority Strategic Plan 2010-2012. Part 1: Vision David Munro 1991 Caring for the earth: a strategy for sustainable living, Department for Community and Local Government (2007), Building a Greener Future: Policy Statement, p5. [Online] Available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/building-greener.pdf. Accessed at 4/18/2012 Greater London Authority 2011. Annual London Survey Research Report 2011. [Online] Available at http://www.london.gov.uk/get-involved/consultations/annual-london-survey/2011. Accessed at 4/18/2012 Greater London Authority, 2011. About the GLA: A Unique organization, with Strategic citywide role. [Online]. Available at < http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs- london/greater-londonauthority/about-gla> Accessed at 4/18/2012 Greater London Authority, 2011. Strategic Plan 2010-2011. [Online]. Available at http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/greater-london- authority/strategic-plan Accessed at 4/18/2012 Greg Clark 2010. National carbon calculator: How the Conservatives would cut emissions. [Online] Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/apr/21/carboncalculator-conservative. Accessed at 4/18/2012

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John Vidal 2010. UK air pollution causes 50,000 early deaths a year, say MPs. [Online] Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/22/air-pollution-deaths. Accessed at 4/18/2012 London 2012, News Release: London Launches Sustainability Plan [Online] Available at: http://www.london2012.com/news/media-releases/2007/2007-11/london-2012-launchessustainability-plan.php. Accessed at 4/18/2012 London 2012,(2007) London 2012 Sustainability Plan: Towards a One Planet 2012, pp18 Mayor of London, 2010. Delivering Londons Energy Future: The Mayors Draft Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy for Public Consultation. London: The Greater London Authority Mayor of London, 2011. Role of the Mayor. [Online]. Available at < http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/role > Accessed at 4/18/2012 Stallone, J. E., 2005. Fair Games For All: How Sports Can Promote Development