London’s consumption based greenhouse gas emissions 2001-2018

<p> <strong style="color: black;">London’s wider greenhouse gas impacts</strong> </p> <p> <span style="color: black;">Tackling London’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a huge challenge. The impact of these emissions goes far beyond the city’s boundaries. From the electronics we buy and the food we eat to the clothes we wear, most are produced and transported globally. Understanding emissions related to these consumption patterns can help us better understand and plan to reduce London’s wider carbon footprint. </span> </p> <p> <span style="color: black;">The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has commissioned Leeds University to develop a historic trend of consumption-based emissions for London. It uses the latest available data (running from 2001-2018) on average expenditure on different types of goods and services. This methodology aligns with what the national government uses at the UK level.</span> </p> <p> <strong style="color: black;">Key Findings</strong> </p> <p> <span style="color: black;">London’s consumption-based emissions in 2018 were around 94 MtCO</span> <sub style="color: black;">2</sub> <span style="color: black;">e. They’ve fallen by 27 per cent since 2001, despite the city’s population increasing by around 1.4 million over that time.&nbsp;This means emissions per head have reduced by 39 per cent (from 17.1 to 10.5 tCO</span> <sub style="color: black;">2</sub> <span style="color: black;">e per person). The biggest drop was between 2008 and 2009 during the global financial crisis, which had a big impact on household expenditure.</span> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> <strong style="color: black;">London’s footprint</strong> </p> <p> <span style="color: black;">London Councils has also commissioned a report on consumption-based household emissions profiles for London boroughs for the period 2001-2018. The data showed that every London borough saw a reduction in emissions over this period, and the difference in emissions between the highest and lowest emitting boroughs had also declined. Further information can be found </span> <a href="https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/our-key-themes/climate-change/consumption-based-greenhouse-gas-household-emissions-profiles-london" target="_blank" style="color: black;">on the London Councils website</a>.</p> <p> <br> </p> <p> <strong style="color: black;">The national context</strong> </p> <p>London’s per capita consumption-based footprint is close to the UK average. It also follows a similar trend in reduction over the same period. However, at a sector level there are some cases where the per capita emissions for Londoners are different, for example:</p> <p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color: black;">Transport – Londoners have higher than average emissions, spending more on international air travel, which significantly increases per capita emissions. However, 2018 emissions are at their lowest level.</span> </p> <p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color: black;">Housing, water, electricity, gas, other fuels – London has similar emissions to the UK and there has been a decreasing trend between 2013 and 2018. The majority of emissions in this sector are related to energy use. </span> </p> <p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color: black;">Food and drink – London has lower emissions than the UK average for food and drink consumed at home but is above average for consumption outside the home, including for hotels and restaurants. </span> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> <strong style="color: black;">The international context</strong> </p> <p>The Mayor wants to recognise the full environmental impact of London’s consumption by publishing this data. We hope this will encourage more cities to publish their consumption-based emissions data so we can identify similarities and work together to bring these emissions down. An Arup/C40 report from 2019, <a href="https://www.c40.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2270_C40_CBE_MainReport_250719.original.pdf" target="_blank">The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5C world,</a> explores consumption-based emissions in an international context and compares data on a continent by continent level.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> <strong>London’s Food Footprint</strong> </p> <p> <span style="color: black;">London’s food consumption-based emissions are 15.5 MtCO</span> <sub style="color: black;">2</sub> <span style="color: black;">e each year and 78% of this is from imports. The GLA also works through </span> <a href="https://relondon.gov.uk/" target="_blank" style="color: black;">ReLondon</a> <span style="color: black;">&nbsp;(previously London Waste and Recycling Board)&nbsp;to improve waste and resource management in the capital and accelerate our transition to a low-carbon, circular city. The 2021 report,</span> <a href="https://relondon.gov.uk/resources/report-londons-food-footprint" target="_blank" style="color: black;">London’s Food Footprint</a>, <span style="color: black;">explores material flows through the entire food and beverage supply chain within Greater London: from imports, to consumption, to how waste is managed. </span> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> <span style="color: black;">The report highlights some of the actions the Mayor has already taken, including signing the </span> <a href="https://www.c40.org/declarations/food-declaration/" target="_blank" style="color: black;">C40 Good Food Cities Declaration</a> <span style="color: black;">and committing to reducing food waste by 50% per person by 2030. It also identifies interventions to reduce emissions, such as shifting to healthier and more sustainable diets, reducing food loss and waste, and making better use of waste.</span> </p>