HVCA acclaims contribution of Mayor of London to the built environment

mayor
Acclaimed by the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association for outstanding services to the construction industry and the built environment — the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, has won this year’s HVCA Gold Award for outstanding services to the construction industry and the built environment. Announcing the award, Robert Higgs, OBE, chief executive of the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association said that during a political career dating back to 1971, Ken Livingstone had seldom been a stranger to controversy. Robert Higgs, said, ‘At a time when climate change, global warming, carbon-dioxide emissions and sustainability throughout the built environment are all high on the political — as well as the industry’s — agenda, he can truly be described as being on the side of the angels.’ In response to the suggestion that climate-change issues are by their very nature global, and that what London can do is therefore a mere drop in the ocean, Ken Livingstone counters, ‘The majority of people on the planet live in cities — and cities can lead the way.’Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, has won this year’s HVCA Gold Award for outstanding services to the construction industry and the built environment. Announcing the award, Robert Higgs, OBE, chief executive of the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association said that during a political career dating back to 1971, Ken Livingstone had seldom been a stranger to controversy. Robert Higgs, said, ‘At a time when climate change, global warming, carbon-dioxide emissions and sustainability throughout the built environment are all high on the political — as well as the industry’s — agenda, he can truly be described as being on the side of the angels.’ In response to the suggestion that climate-change issues are by their very nature global, and that what London can do is therefore a mere drop in the ocean, Ken Livingstone counters, ‘The majority of people on the planet live in cities — and cities can lead the way.’ Insisting that ‘the time for words is over, for the risk of catastrophe is too great’, he stresses that ‘we don’t have to reduce our quality of life to tackle climate change, but we do need to change the way we live’. In 2002, he was instrumental in establishing the London Sustainable Development Commission, which brings together key representatives of economic, social, environmental and governance interests across the city. In 2003, he launched his green compact, which identified key achievements to ensure that the 2012 Olympic Games are ‘the most environmentally sustainable in history’. In 2004, he set a target whereby at least 10% of the energy requirements of all major new developments in the capital must be met from renewable sources and generated on site. Earlier this year, he launched a climate-change action plan, worth at total of £78 million over three years, which will deliver very real reductions in London’s carbon-dioxide emissions. The Mayor sums up his goals as the development of London as ‘a world leader in sustainable urban planning, design and architecture’ and as providing a benchmark at which other parts of the UK and the world can aim.
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