London needs to keep the focus as it makes progress towards becoming a sustainable, resilient, future-proof city

Established in 2002, the LSDC was set up to advise the Mayor of London on making London a ​‘sustainable world city’. It has worked with City Hall’s Sustainable Development team and the Greater London Authority (GLA) on strategy input, research, programme delivery, and bringing sustainable development into the mainstream. This work has been varied and invaluable and there are three approaches, identified from the work that I have been personally involved with, that I believe will help London continue to transition into a fairer, resilient city with a low carbon economy.

Make space for nature

The pandemic had many impacts, but within our dense urban city, the opportunity to be able to access nature and green spaces came under demand. Well before the 2020 lockdown, the LSDC published 'Sowing the Seeds', a report that Tim Gill and I chaired the working group for, highlighting the importance nature, in terms of accessibility and the need for quality green spaces; their maintenance; and crucially its role in the health and wellbeing of society. Our report led to the urban greening factor in the London plan, the establishment of a green infrastructure commission which led to London being the first national park city. Today, however the real challenge is protecting budgets that prioritise nature and biodiversity at a time when we are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis.

Manage total carbon emissions

Science is critical to our understanding and response to the climate crisis and many companies, as Grimshaw has, are setting science-based targets to help manage and reduce carbon emissions. As part of my role with the LSDC my experience was fed into an expert advisory group including C40, academics and others, that supported the GLA to develop a methodology for measurement of supply chain greenhouse gas emissions of the city (scope 3). This work led to the publication of the award-winning PAS2060 BSI Casestudies 1.0 (bsi​group​.com).

London has set ambitious scope 1 and 2 targets, but scope 3 emissions has yet to become part of this analysis. Only by understanding and addressing London’s indirect emissions (for example, emissions created by goods and services that come into the city) will we make sure we are comprehensive in making the necessary reductions to maintain a safe climate. This is important as climate change has the biggest impact on the poorest communities so fairness must be at the heart of the net zero pathway.

Measure for success

We know that data can be used to inform and create robust policies and enable change, and as chair of the LSDC Quality of Life Indicator working group I am proud of the way we have been able to successfully deliver comprehensive reporting on London’s social, economic and environmental performance.

Our most recent report in 2021 aligned London’s progress against the 17 UN SDGs the UN Sustainable Development Goals | London City Hall. Indicators were established, specific to London and the SDGs, through analysis carried out by the University of Newcastle, these were subsequently integrated into London Recovery Board (the GLA’s response to the COVID pandemic) and have informed the GLA's sustainability and wellbeing measure launched in 2023. These measures mean a more integrated approach to the delivery of co-benefits, through investment across departments, can be considered. And as London continues to look at ways of improving quality of life for its citizens and visitors these measurement tools and practical indicators are all too important.

A collective passion for the future

The work of the LSDC has and continues to be invaluable but maybe one of its strongest credentials is its collaborative power. Using data effectively, influencing policymakers and empowering local communities all have one thing in common. When we come together things can change, for the better.

*This article was originally published by Business LDN on 6 June 2023.