The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has congratulated participants in his Business Climate Challenge (BCC) on significant progress towards their energy reduction targets, based on data through

September 2023.

The BCC is an energy efficiency programme supporting businesses to reduce their energy consumption, to accelerate building decarbonisation efforts in London. Emissions from heating and powering London’s commercial and industrial buildings currently make up 36 per cent of the capital’s carbon footprint. Decarbonising the city’s building stock is pivotal to reach the Mayor's net zero target by 2030, and ensure a green and clean recovery from the pandemic. The programme provides free technical support to help make buildings more energy efficient, reduce energy costs and support businesses on their pathway to zero carbon.  

The BCC also helps businesses improve their economic sustainability by identifying energy- and cost-saving measures that they can implement. This support has been particularly valued by small and mid-sized businesses, which comprise most of the BCC cohort, and which have been particularly hard-hit by the energy cost crisis since 2022.  

New figures show that participating businesses that received tailored BCC workplace energy savings recommendations in the first quarter of 2023 reduced their energy use by a median of almost 9 per cent.

Nearly 150 representatives from BCC-supported businesses and programme partners attended a Celebration and Recognition Event at the British Library yesterday, where Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, congratulated the participants for their commitment and dedication to taking net zero action and the significant progress they have achieved through the programme so far.

In 2023, the voluntary programme has been supporting 216 London workplaces, who have pledged to reduce their workplace energy use by 10 per cent in one year, to identify and implement energy-saving strategies for reducing energy costs and cutting carbon emissions. To help them reach this target, the programme provides every Business Climate Challenge participant with professional workplace energy audits, guidance on how to bring their building energy use to net zero, access to a bespoke energy management dashboard, training and guidance on key energy topics and opportunities to engage with a cohort of peer organisations.

The BCC partnered with 9 Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Climate Change Alliances to engage and support cohorts of businesses in the programme. Among them, the Station to Station BID for West Norwood and Tulse Hill has seen the highest average energy savings, with businesses reducing energy use by 17% on average in the first nine months of 2023.

The programme has also supported 16 NHS GPs in the North Central and South East London Integrated Care Systems.

The successful programme has now seeded further projects, with four Business Climate Challenge programme partners working on UK Shared Prosperity Fund net zero programmes that will support an additional 285 businesses to reduce energy usage in Southwark, Camden and Brent in 2024-2025. 

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Using energy more efficiently saves businesses huge costs and help tackle the climate emergency. It’s great to see the swift progress businesses are making in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.

“I know businesses in London are keen to implement more effective energy-saving strategies, and the Business Climate Challenge gives them the resources to understand their energy use and devise a tailored programme suitable for each business.

“As Mayor, I am committed to helping businesses thrive and become more sustainable, including continuing this programme into the next year, as we build a greener and more prosperous London for all.”

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, said: “I am impressed by the achievements of the BCC programme and how it is helping us build a greener and better London for everyone. I would like to congratulate all BCC participating businesses for the leadership they have demonstrated in making change and saving energy at their workplace. Thank you for playing a critical role in decarbonising our city as the Mayor and I continue to work closely with businesses to help London become net zero by 2030.”

Adam Freed, Sustainability Lead at Bloomberg Associates, said: “The 216 businesses that answered Mayor Khan’s climate challenge are demonstrating the critical role that businesses can and must play in achieving our climate goals – and that saving energy not only tackles the climate crisis, but strengthens their bottom line. The Mayor’s Business Climate Challenge exemplifies the multi-sector collaboration and commitment needed to meet net zero targets and is a model for cities around the world.”

Jack Skillen, Placeshaping Director at Team London Bridge, said: “At Team London Bridge we have an ambitious Route map to support Southwark to be a Carbon Neutral borough by 2030. To achieve this we need impactful projects, and the Business Climate Challenge has enabled 20 of our businesses to start reducing energy use and make the necessary investments and behavioural changes to help us towards this goal. Moreover, people have been upskilled and have started to have conversations with their landlords about further investments, providing inspiration for others and momentum towards mitigating climate change.”

Jo Piskorz, Administrative Manager at Rathbone Society, said: “We have a lot of limitations given the nature of our business and our building, but it’s still been such a positive experience. What the programme asked of us was more than reasonable considering what we received in return – both valuable knowledge and support for effective climate planning and to better manage our energy use.” Photo by Chabad Lubavitch, Wikimedia commons.