New Solar Together Project for domestic PV in London

We are also pleased that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is repeating last year’s domestic solar panel installation project as part of his effort and plan to get London to zero carbon by 2050 (that is a late target, but Sadiq is the first Mayor to have a zero carbon target for London). The group-buying scheme for solar panels is running again, to reduce prices as far as possible with bulk-buying, but you need to hurry to get registered (with no commitment at this stage) by 21 October. The more people join in, the cheaper the panels become.

We are particularly pleased that Islington Council is again supporting this effort to reduce carbon emissions. Other participating Boroughs are Brent, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Sutton, and Waltham Forest. Not sure why Haringey has dropped off the list, that’s a bit sad. The website says that residents living in non-participating boroughs can join in as well.

We had solar panels put on our house at the back this time last year under the last scheme. We are very pleased with them, the energy they are saving for us, and the contribution we are now making to the UK’s renewable energy. The installers were charming and efficient.

We hope that lots of Archway and Islington residents (and other Londoners!) will get signed up for this. To register, go to http://www.islington.gov.uk/solartogether

London Mayor wants to plant 75000 trees in London

https://www.london.gov.uk/grow

as part of the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy project in co-operation with the Woodland Trust:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/press-centre/2018/10/queen-s-commonwealth-canopy-extended-by-50-000-trees/

https://player.vimeo.com/video/229976054

Mayor of London’s latest air quality survey

Jenny Jones on Boris’ efforts to reduce London’s carbon emissions

Baroness Jenny Jones of the Green Party and a Green member of the London Assembly has written a piece in the Guardian looking at Boris Johnson’s record in tackling – and not tackling – London’s carbon targets.

She says: “Earlier in 2014 the London assembly environment committee produced a report card on the progress of the capital’s carbon reduction targets. It gave mayor Boris Johnson an overall score of just 4.6 out of 10 for his efforts to reduce carbon.

Despite benefiting from some of the best and most comprehensive climate policies and the efforts of his climate team, Johnson – now in the middle of his second term of office – has failed to show the personal leadership that his climate mitigation and adaptation strategies promise. By not putting the weight of his office and resources behind his pledge to reduce London’s carbon emissions by 60% by 2025, long-term targets will prove even harder to achieve.

This overall poor performance is not surprising, given the mayor’s reluctance to acknowledge human behaviour as the dominant cause of climate change. Instead the mayor is known to give credence to crank theories, such as solar activity being the cause and speculation over whether we are entering a mini ice age. This dangerous and ill-informed mindset also explains the mayor’s rationale for promoting the development of new sources of carbon emissions such as aviation expansion and fracking.”

Read the whole article here: http://www.theguardian.com/big-energy-debate/jenny-jones-boris-johnson-london-carbon-targets