Newsflash! London 21
Sustainability Network website launched Aug 2nd 1999!
| Background | Projects, March 1998 | Greater London Authoriy | Our response to UK govt's "Greater London Authority" green paper | "Creating a sustainable London" manifesto | Links to other sites of interest | Contact us! |
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Report from the April 1998 "Gathering for Change" at Goldsmiths College, London |
The Mayor's Strategies for London - opportunities for Londoners to contribute key points COMING SOON |
The Greater London Authority Bill: proposed amendments COMING SOON |
SLT is a registered charity run by John Jopling as project manager. The projects which SLT supports fall into three categories: first, those for which SLT is responsible; secondly, projects in which SLT is engaged with other partners; thirdly, projects run by volunteers where SLT plays a supporting role and which will become part of the London-wide sustainability network to be called London 21.
Summary.
1. SLT welcomes the proposal to establish a
directly elected authority for London, to consist of a Mayor and Assembly,
together called the Greater London Authority (the "GLA"), and to be the policy
making body controlling various pan-London agencies.
2. The wider purpose
of a new system of government for the whole of London must be for London to
become a more sustainable city, environmentally, economically and socially.
This should be written into the legislation establishing the new authority,
making London the first world city to place sustainability at the core of city
government.
3. Becoming a sustainable city will be an on-going city-wide
learning exercise in which all organisations and people in London participate.
In addition to its responsibility for the agencies under its control, the GLA
should be the body that leads London on its journey towards sustainability and
is responsible for making sure the necessary decision-making processes take
place (the "leadership role").
4. The legislation establishing the GLA
should lay down criteria for the way in which the leadership role is carried
out. The GLA should be obliged to:
(1) provide coherence and integration in
the planning of different services and activities so they support each other
in achieving social, environmental and economic goals:
(2) have a
consensus-seeking, open and accountable political process and culture
(3)
involve the wider community, especially young people and people suffering from
economic or social exclusion, as a routine and integral part of the processes,
not an occasional bolt-on.
5 . It should be the responsibility of the Mayor
to enable these processes to happen and to comply with these criteria. It
should be the responsibility of the Assembly to ensure that he or she does so.
The Mayor will undertake the leadership role. The Assembly will have power to
approve or disapprove the mayor's budget and will scrutinise the Mayor's
actions.
6. A London Citizens Forum (this is at present a provisional name
only) is being formed to provide a channel through which Londoners can
contribute on their own terms. It will provide a home for activist approaches
to making London a more socially friendly and environmentally responsible
city.
This Response takes the form of 15 pages of introduction (in response to the Introduction and first chapter of the Green Paper), followed by answers to the specific questions raised in the remaining chapters. Click here for the complete response document.
London is a huge city with huge problems. It suffers from massive traffic problems with the associated pollution these cause. It has a large homelessness problem and an ever increasing divide between those that have and those that don't have. London requires huge areas of land to support it, not just in the UK. It stretches its fingers across the globe: food, timber and minerals are imported from all parts of the world, resulting in an incredible use of fossil fuels in transportation.
If we think of London as a system, it is basically linear in form - with massive resource inputs that flow through to become massive waste outputs. There is very little cycling of materials - only 3% of household waste is recycled. By no means is this a sustainable system.
It needn't be this way. By sourcing materials locally, by careful recycling and reuse, by building local communities, by encouraging low impact lifestyles and by discouraging unnecessary transport: London could be on the way towards becoming a healthy city.
The Sustainable London Trust was set up to provide a vision of London as a sustainable city in environmental and social terms. To achieve this goal we have written a manifesto for change. Each chapter describes the current situation, highlights positive initiatives and recommends action for the future.
Online
Version. With navigable index to chapters and sections, plus some
links to relevant
organisations.
-------------------------------
Downloadable
Version (HTML pages compressed into a single ZIP
file).
Instructions:
The Trust's Library contains a comprehensive selection of information on sustainability matters both for London and worldwide. Visitors are welcome to use the library by booking an appointment - see contact details below.