environment
Clean up our environment! With the coronavirus pandemic dominating the news headlines, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the burning issue of climate change has been pushed down the agenda. However, greening up our planet is still one of the most pressing challenges that society faces. last year, as more people get back to work following the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions. This issue was discussed at length in Hounslow Chamber’s recent Clean Air webinar, which was attended by local businesses, Transport for London (TfL) and Hounslow Council. The idea of the webinar was to help organisations learn more about what they could do to improve air pollution in Hounslow. Attendees discussed a range of solutions, from encouraging employees to use active travel to using cleaner motor vehicles and taking steps to improve indoor air quality – all of which would help to reduce the local emissions.
While battling the impact of COVID-19, organisations in London are coming together to work out how they can improve the local carbon footprint. Hounslow Chamber of Commerce is leading the way in this respect, working with the business community and other organisations to find ways of making our environment a cleaner place in which to live. One major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions is road traffic. Data shows that road traffic congestion in outer London is now higher that it was this time
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Sally Smith, chief operating officer at Hounslow Chamber, says: “We all have a role to play in tackling climate change. From a commercial perspective, introducing measures to cut emissions will not only benefit the local environment but also improve companies’ sustainability credentials.” Meld Energy, one of the webinar attendees, stressed the importance of laying the foundations for future energy systems that will improve quality of life for the next generation. Meld founder Chris Smith says: “We feel the impact of emissions in the air that we breathe, which undoubtedly is causing increased incidence of chronic illnesses
such as asthma. There is also evidence to suggest that COVID-19 has thrived better in places where air quality is poor. “We specialise in net zero and our projects seek to reduce carbon emissions through developing and delivering integrated energy solutions hand in hand with the public and private sectors. We believe in particular that local authorities have a key role to play by leveraging their low cost of money, longevity and land holding to deliver low-carbon power, heat and mobility solutions to reduce the impact of emissions and air quality on public health. “Protecting the environment will involve change in our infrastructure and change in our behaviours so the key will be for central and local government to take the lead in providing the infrastructure, developing place-based solutions and perhaps most importantly, taking the population on the journey.” TfL said it was taking action to help clean up London’s “dangerously polluted air” and improve public health. Matthew Kamau, TfL engagement officer, says: “We’re working with the London boroughs, transport operators and other stakeholders to promote behavioural change and smarter travel measures aimed at encouraging more use of lower carbon modes, eco-driving practices, better vehicle maintenance and flexible working patterns to reduce CO2 emissions. Additionally, we’re promoting and improving sustainable, low CO2-emitting transport such as cycling and walking as well as the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which we will expand up to (but not including) the North and South Circular roads from October 2021.
Matthew said the COVID lockdown led to fewer vehicles on the road and, ultimately, improvements in air quality. “As London entered lockdown, there was a clear shift in behaviour as people opted for cycling and walking over other transport options,” he says. “Unfortunately, the dramatic increases seen in people on bikes during peak lockdown have started to fall away as the weather changes and the amount of vehicles on the roads returns to pre-pandemic levels.
“We know that cyclists feel less safe when there are more cars, and if we’re to encourage and harness the trend we’ve seen in the take-up of cycling, we must ensure that London is wellequipped by installing appropriate cycle infrastructure.” Hounslow Council, too, is doing its bit to tackle climate change. Councillor Katherine Dunne, the council’s cabinet member for communities & climate emergency, says: “We committed to reviewing the arrangements in place to reduce the council’s carbon footprint and to identify new initiatives with a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan sets out seven programmes to reduce the council’s carbon emissions, including those relating to energy efficiency, waste management and electrifying the vehicle fleet.
“The council’s own carbon emissions may account for only 5% of the total attributable to the borough, so we’re working with businesses and the local community to reduce the wider borough emissions under a range of programmes, including sustainable travel promotion and the transition to electric mobility.” Katherine believes that COVID-19 is encouraging us to do things differently to protect the environment.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a significant decrease in public transport use, a decrease in car use and an increase in walking and cycling across London,” she says. “Many employers and workers heeded the government’s advice for people to work from home where possible, which has meant fewer people driving into central London or using public transport. We also saw fewer people flying from Heathrow, which resulted in less traffic travelling through the borough. Data collected from Hounslow’s monitoring sites, showed that air pollution levels fell by an average of 20% against 2019 measures. The council has a twin aim to rebuild our local economy without sacrificing some of these environmental improvements.”
