The Big Smoke

London boroughs that have signed up to the 10:10 campaign. llustration: Sim Greenaway

London, as the one-time hub of the empire responsible for the first industrialised economy, arguably owes a greater carbon debt than any other city in the world. Which is part of the reason Time Out has joined 10:10, the innovative campaign to cut the UK's carbon emissions by at least 10 per cent during 2010 - and why we're encouraging the rest of the capital to do the same.

Here we'll be reporting on which local authorities (see map above) and other leading London organisations have also signed up to 10:10. We'll also be updating you on our progress as we honour our own commitment to reducing Time Out's carbon footprint over the coming year.

To join 10:10 yourself, or to sign up your company or organisation, visit the campaign's website here.

And you can read an interview with Franny Armstrong, 10:10's inspirational founder and director of 'The Age of Stupid', here. Feature continues

Local authorities – half in, half out…
Fourteen of London’s 32 boroughs have joined 10:10 so far. Is yours one? For full details, scroll to the bottom of the page or click here - if your local authority is still dragging its civic heels, click on its name to take you straight to its online contact page, where you can help convince your council to get involved.

The GLA – split over 10:10
Unlike in Westminster, where 10:10 enjoys broad cross-party support, the Greater London Authority seems divided over the campaign along party lines. Leading the charge to sign up inside City Hall is leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Mike Tuffrey. He tabled a motion for the GLA to join 10:10 back in October, but it was rendered inquorate when the Tory GLA members walked out of the debate, apparently because they were 'too busy' to take part.

Mike Tuffrey had this to say: 'The London Assembly Tories should be ashamed of their disdain for the future of our planet. City Hall should be taking the lead in London for the 10:10 campaign, not dragging its feet. Politicians making pious statements of support for goals some 50 years away is frankly not good enough. We need action straight away to tackle climate change.'

A new motion is being submitted at a plenary session of the London Assembly on Wednesday December 9, just after the climate change conference in Copenhagen kicks off. Watch this space for news on how that goes…

The Mayor – not signed up
Boris has pledged to 'sign up City Hall' to 10:10, though he hasn’t joined personally. When pressed by leader of the Lib Dems in the GLA Mike Tuffrey about what this actually means - 'Which parts of the GLA family can fulfil the 10:10 criteria? Which parts of the GLA family are not signing up and why not?' - Boris's response was:

'I have pledged to sign up City Hall to 10:10.  My officials are in discussion with the 10:10 campaign and GLA family about the potential of signing up either fully or parts of their operations to the initiative. I expect to be able to announce which parts will be signing up in the near future.'

Still fairly vague, then. The Mayor has done his bit, though, in his own gallant way: as has been widely reported, three weeks ago he happened across a gang of girls in the street threatening a woman with a metal bar. The woman happened to be Franny Armstrong, the director of climate change documentary 'The Age of Stupid' who came up with the 10:10 campaign in the first place. Boris chased them off on his bike, then returned to make sure Franny was all right, insisting on walking her home. According to Franny, Boris in full battle-cry mode was ‘a lot less scary than a bunch of girl hoodies straight out of a cheap BBC drama’.

TfL – CO2 emissions set to rise
Carbon-dioxide emissions from London’s public-transport network are forecast to rise in 2010 – so TfL couldn’t join 10:10 even if the will to so was there. According to Mayor Boris Johnson, TfL’s emissions are due to increase by a small amount – ‘less than one per cent’ – between now and 2014, due to planned improvements to the tube network: ‘The scale and nature of TfL’s programme means that over the period the increased CO2 emissions from these activities outweighs the reductions that will be achieved from operational areas.’

It is hoped that the improvements will eventually coax more Londoners away from their cars and on to public transport, thereby leading to ‘an overall fall in emissions’ by 2014. Though that fall would presumably only apply to London’s roads, since the added capacity means that by then tube journeys will be gobbling up more energy per passenger. According to the Lib Dem group in the GLA, TfL’s business plan allows for an increase of more than 6 per cent in kilowatt hours per passenger journey by 2018.

The Mayor insists that steps are being taken to manage energy consumption on the tube despite the increased demand for power. ‘Energy efficiency measures such as regenerative braking and new signalling are being put in place, which minimises the increase in traction energy,’ he says, adding that energy consumption per passenger journey is expected to return to current levels by around 2023.

On the plus side, London Underground is ordering a fleet of new, energy-efficient trains for its Bakerloo Line upgrade in 2020. It also has, according to the Mayor’s Office, an ‘aspiration’ – though not yet a commitment – to obtain 30 per cent of its energy supply from renewable sources by 2025.