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London goes retro to beat climate change

Fashion is a fickle beast but now a whole city is going retro (well, not quite but it was too good a pun to waste). The long-awaited plan to retrofit all buildings owned and operated by the Greater London Authority (GLA) with energy-saving systems and technology is finally in motion with contracts awarded to companies which are going to slash the capital's emissions.

While much of the discussion about energy efficiency in buildings has focused on new houses, there are still millions of older buildings that lack proper insulation or top-notch heating systems. No matter how good those eco-towns are, if and when they're built they'll only represent a small proportion of the building stock in the UK. Fortunately, the GLA have a cunning plan.

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London to slash emissions from public buildings - Greenpeace response

28 Feb 2008

Reacting to news of a major initiative to "retrofit" London's public buildings - including police and fire stations - to cut energy waste, Greenpeace Chief Scientist Dr Doug Parr said:

"London is setting the pace, and if we're going to beat climate change then we need to see this level of ambition in cities across the world. Slashing energy waste and decentralising power across the capital will save Londoners money and cut emissions, but just as importantly it will mean our city is seen as an environmental trailblazer.

"Energy efficiency might not be one of the most eye catching ways to save the world, but it remains one of the cheapest, quickest ways of tackling global warming. We need to see this kind of thinking in every town in the country, and most importantly in Gordon Brown's government."

For more contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255.

Notes

Energy service companies Dalkia and Honeywell were selected by the Greater London Authority under the C40 climate initiative.

The companies have pledged to cut energy use in GLA buildings by 25 per cent.

The scheme is to be widened to encourage every public sector organisation in London to participate in the same deal. 

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Porsche sulks over London congestion charge, starts a petition

Porsche logoLondon mayor Ken Livingstone was never going to get an easy ride over his planned changes to the congestion charge, and Porsche's threat of a legal challenge is perhaps no big surprise. Famed for its fast, sleek, inefficient cars, it claims the new £25-a-day charge on gas guzzlers is "unfair and disproportionate".

As well as the promised judicial review, the company has started a petition for the Jeremy Clarksons of this world to voice their opposition to Ken's plan. "We know that huge numbers of people in London and across the rest of the country support our case," they claim. "They agree with us that it would be bad for London - that it is unfair and sends the wrong message about what sort of a city London is whilst having no meaningful benefit on the environment."

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Ken keeps up the pressure against Heathrow expansion

With just over a week to go until the consultation process ends, London mayor Ken Livingstone is keeping up the pressure on the government to abandon plans to build a third runway at Heathrow airport. During a visit to Sipson, one of three villages threatened by the bulldozers if the plans go ahead, Ken said: "It is vital that all airport expansion in London and the South East, including Heathrow, is halted now as it is completely contrary to the growing evidence on the role of aviation in contributing towards catastrophic climate change.

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Greenpeace response to London gas-guzzler congestion charge rise

12 Feb 2008

Responding to Ken Livingstone's announcement today that gas-guzzling vehicles will have to pay £25 a day to enter London's congestion charge zone, Greenpeace Chief Scientist Dr Doug Parr said:

"Gas guzzlers have no place in a modern city like London, so it's great news that the congestion charge will give people a big incentive to pollute less.

"Buying one of these vehicles is becoming a bad idea, for the planet and the wallet. If we really want to tackle climate change properly we need to encourage people onto public transport and out of their cars where possible."

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255.

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London mayoral candidates unite against Heathrow expansion

All four London mayoral candidates are unoted against Heathrow expansion

All four leading candidates for the forthcoming London mayoral election have joined forces to fight Gordon Brown's push for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson, Brian Paddick and Sian Berry have all agreed to feature in a new anti-expansion advertising campaign launched today. The ad features in the Times, Guardian, Independent and Evening Standard newspapers.

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New bulbs for old in London bulb amnesty

As Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone might not be the perfect politician but at least he's streets ahead of central government on climate change and reducing emissions in the capital. His latest ploy is to hold a light bulb amnesty during which Londoners can exchange their old incandescent bulbs for a bright new energy-efficient one.

According to london.gov.uk, you can take up to two old-fashioned bulbs to any London branch of B&Q between Friday 11 and Sunday 13 January and exchange them for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) provided by British Gas. Nice.

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A zero-carbon home of one's own

Greenpeace volunteers on John Prescott's roof, with the solar panels they kindly installed for himIn the news today are reports of the first zero-carbon home being unveiled in London. Housing minister Yvette Cooper has been touring the site, nodding in a ministerial way at the insulation, solar panels, water recycling and construction methods that went into the first home to meet the top standards of the government's sustainable housing code.

According to the report on this morning's Today programme (you can listen again for the next seven days), the ultra-efficient abode cost 40 per cent more to build than a 'normal' house but as more are built, the economies of scale will bring that down. As the government intends to make all new housing zero-carbon by 2016, that price fall should start in the near future, although Cooper was evasive when quizzed about exactly how many of the 160,000 homes planned in the Thames Gateway region would be zero-carbon. A rolling increase in standards was all she would commit to.

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No to Trident; the opposition grows

Part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour blog

Annie Lennox, John Sauven and Ken Livingstone
© Greenpeace/Rezak

It's a funny old life being on a Greenpeace ship tour; one minute you're being boarded by police and put in solitary confinement for three days, the next you're being boarded by celebrities and working out the social niceties of how to address somebody with three titles before their name.






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Ken Livingstone to board Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise to say 'No' to Trident

6 Mar 2007

Politicians, military personnel and celebrities will come together today to highlight why replacing the Trident missile system is a dangerous and expensive distraction from the real threat facing our planet - climate change.

Ken Livingstone, Annie Lennox, Anita and Gordon Roddick, Bianca Jagger, Tony Robinson and Major General Sir Patrick Cordingly will be among those on Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship to explain why they don't want the UK to spend up to £76bn on outdated, unnecessary and dangerous weapons of mass destruction.

Adding to the pressure on the government, a new report released by Greenpeace today shows that the real cost of replacing Trident is more than £76 billion, not the £15 to £20 billion figure that government repeatedly states. That's equivalent to £4500 per British family, or about 40 per cent of Ministry of Defence conventional weapons purchases.

Greenpeace also demonstrates that spending the same amount on tackling climate change could reduce the UK's carbon emissions by over 12 per cent, as well as improving our long term energy security.

The event takes place on the eve of a new report from the all party Defence Select Committee which is expected to criticise the government for once again failing to properly consult on an issue of critical national importance. Parliament will vote on the issue on Wednesday 14th March.

The Greenpeace ship will be docked on the Thames in London and has recently returned from an action at the Faslane nuclear base in Scotland, where it blockaded the port for an entire day in protest at the UK government's rush to a new generation of nuclear weapons. The Sunrise was seized by the government and its crew imprisoned for three days, before finally being released and only just making it to London for tonight's event. The Greenpeace ship will be passing under Tower bridge at 1615.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:

"Thirty-six years after Britain signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is incredible that the government is even considering spending £76 billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons. The great challenge of the twenty first century will be to prevent catastrophic climate change and it is on this that Britain should be giving a clear lead. Rather than spending tens of billions of pounds on new weapons of mass destruction - which could be better spent on schools, hospitals and public transport - Britain should demonstrate real world leadership by investing in a radical programme to cut carbon emissions."

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The event will take place at 1700 near HMS Belfast, London. Journalists wishing to attend should contact the Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255 or 07801 212972 -- places are strictly limited. For a copy of the full report visit http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/trident-replacement-costs.