Today the Court of Common Council voted to adopt the City of London Corporation’s Climate Action Strategy. This strategy breaks new ground and sets out how we will achieve net zero, build climate resilience and champion sustainable growth, both in the UK and globally over the next two decades. By adopting the strategy, the City Corporation has committed to:
· Achieve net zero carbon emissions from our own operations by 2027
· Achieve next zero carbon emissions across our investments and supply chain by 2040
· Support the achievement of net zero for the Square Mile by 2040
· Invest £68m over the next six years to support these goals of which £15m dedicated to preparing the Square Mile for extreme weather events
Three things set our Climate Action Strategy apart. Firstly, our commitments are informed by an extensive study of our current baseline conducted earlier this year which looked across all of our activities and assets. Secondly, it is accompanied by a fully funded action plan. And lastly, it puts a plan in place to address emissions from our financial and property investments and full supply chain (Scope 3). Scope 3 emissions, while hard to treat, are crucial to address in order to achieve the impact we are all working towards. We have a plan in place to address each category in our Scope 3 emissions using science-based targets under the SBTi methodology. As these account for 97% of our overall emissions, we have important work to do and will get to work immediately in order to meet our targets.
We invite you to read more about how we plan to achieve our goals here. As we pursue our strategy, we will also drive sustainable growth, adapt our natural and built environment for generations to come and protect the most vulnerable people in our society.
Together we will build a greener City, where we all play our part.
