New West End Company will play a key leadership role in our sustainable district programmes, convening and campaigning through public-private sector partnerships to implement activities that have the greatest contribution to our overall district and member goals towards a Zero Carbon world.
Campaigning for a better West End environment: We will lead campaigns on behalf of members that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of our businesses and consumers with our overall goal of becoming one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable International Centres. We will focus on activities in three key areas through the One Planet framework; path to zero carbon, improved air quality and waste reduction.
Path to Zero Carbon:
In 2019 the City of Westminster declared a state of ‘climate emergency’ with a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2040. The Mayor of London, neighbouring Councils and other governing bodies have set ambitious targets to address climate change issues. Our members need to take action to address emissions associated with buildings, improve resource efficiency and working standards for employees. New West End Company will be a key promoter of sustainable programmes at a district level promoting transparency in members environmental action.
Working with our members and partners, we will:
> Deliver business & customer campaigns that support our vision for a truly ‘Sustainable District’ setting ambitions and best practice that address issues on a global platform
> Work with businesses to raise energy-efficiency awareness, encourage carbon reductions and action on climate resilience and risk management
> Work with Westminster City Council and its Carbon Offset Fund to identify investment opportunities and facilitate collaborations to improve the West End’s International Centre’s energy infrastructure.
> Support Grosvenor’s ambitious proposal for Grosvenor Square as a global landmark of best practice to green a key public space: https://www.grosvenorsquare.org/
Improved Air Quality Through Zero Emission Transport Streets:
The West End’s International Centre lies within the Mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which is designed to improve air quality by cutting exhaust emissions. Westminster City Council is aiming to reduce traffic in the West End by introducing a parking surcharge for diesel cars, increasing provision of electric vehicle charging facilities and improving pedestrian access.
New West End Company will work towards being the first Zero Emissions Transport Zone in London by 2025, alongside members and partners such as Transport for London and the City of Westminster to achieve this.
We will:
> Harness the knowledge and enforcement powers of Transport for London and Westminster City Council to achieve change
> Collaborate with members for projects such as the installation of electric vehicle charging points, for the transition to zero-emission fleets that are more feasible and affordable for members across the district, and to encourage members to sign up to our freight and waste consolidation service to reduce the amount of delivery and collection vehicles in our district
> Engage with a broader group of strategic partners to achieve a faster transition to cleaner taxis and buses, investigate potential traffic flows to reduce congestion and pollutants, and collaborate with the health sector and schools to raise public awareness about reducing exposure to emissions
> Support the delivery of The Crown Estate’s annual programme of traffic-free events; and campaign for more regular and permanent changes to policy to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion
Waste Reduction:
To make significant progress in waste reduction across retail, leisure and hospitality a partnership approach will be adopted promoting schemes to our member businesses, their employees and our customers.
We will:
> Encourage recycling to reduce waste across our district
> Support reusable fashion campaigns to our colleagues and customers at key trading periods such as Summer Sales & Christmas periods
> Encourage reduction in plastic usage across our retail, leisure and hospitality members and look to incentivise customer behaviour changes through our West End Club loyalty programme
> Build on initiatives such as The Crown Estate’s food waste scheme across our restaurants and hotels members and promoting servicing app platforms such as ‘too good to go’
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