Mayor of London pledges £3 million to support low-carbon zones

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged £3 million to develop 10 flagship low-carbon zones to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills and create jobs.

Funding of at least £200 000 will be available for reach zone, funded by the London Development Agency’s recently approved budget for climate-change activities.

The zones will be required to reduce carbon emissions by at least 20% by 2012. The Mayor has pledged to cut emissions in London by 60% by 2025, and these zones will showcase how this can be achieved using existing and new technologies. These zones could be as small as a couple of streets or encompass areas of a thousand buildings.

Boris Johnson said, ‘I am fully signed up to taking the necessary steps to combat climate change and ensure we protect our planet. By doing so, there is great potential to deliver “green-collar” jobs in the capital, and I am determined to pursue this opportunity aggressively.’

Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, comments, ‘These new low-carbon zones are a great way to get communities galvanised to take action. This new funding will kelp kick start some exciting projects that we are looking forward to supporting.