The City of Westminster is set to become carbon neutral by 2040 after overwhelming support from local councillors to declare a climate emergency.
The declaration, agreed at a Full Council meeting held on 18th September 2019, commits Westminster City Council to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and for the whole city to follow suit by 2040 – ten years ahead of Government targets.
Climate change and the wider environmental debate are key issues for Westminster’s residents. As the authority covering the capital of the capital, Westminster faces unique challenges. The borough’s 8.9 square miles of central London alone attract one million visitors each day and produce more carbon emissions than the whole of Cardiff or Newcastle.
Westminster also suffers from some of the worst air pollution and the climate emergency declaration follows the introduction of a number of trailblazing policies, such as the first diesel surcharge, a schools’ clean air fund, and schools air quality inspections in a bid to make the city cleaner and greener.
Speaking at the council’s meeting Tim Mitchell, Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council warned:
“Our targets are ambitious but setting the target is the easy bit. This is the biggest challenge facing our generation and the hard work starts now.
“Barely a day goes by without another story about the pressing need to cut carbon emissions. Climate change is a leading concern for our residents and as a council we have to lead. We have already made strides with our environmental campaigns, like #DontBeIdle, the first diesel surcharge, a schools’ clean air fund and more EV infrastructure than other London borough. But there is much more to be done.”
The council will soon be publishing a new carbon reduction strategy and is introducing new campaigns aimed at encouraging residents and businesses, but also our visitors, to be cleaner and greener in the coming months.
Your business can make a difference immediately
It is straightforward for businesses to act and reduce their climate change impact.
Many Westminster businesses have discovered the superior environmental benefits of using the City Council’s business waste collection service. Collections made by other private waste companies merely duplicate the number of vehicles on our streets as City Council vehicles already operate on the streets of Westminster 24 hours a day by legal default. By using a private waste contractor to collect your business waste you will be adding extra vehicles onto your street that otherwise would not need to be there, and as a result, adding a completely unnecessary burden on the environment by increasing congestion and pollution without adding genuine value. Ensuring your commercial waste is collected by us immediately cuts down on these duplicate vehicle movements and inefficiency by as much as 80% a day. We also introduced the first fully electric collection trucks to Westminster’s streets. These trucks do not need fossil fuels and as such do not emit greenhouse gases such as CO2.
We ensure waste collected from businesses does not become a climate change burden. See how our services compare via our Carbon Calculator. Find out more about the work we with businesses on tackling inefficient commercial waste collections please see this case study
Start making a difference by booking a free of charge no obligation waste audit to find out the true potential of managing your business waste better.
