LCC's Climate Campaign
LCC's Climate Campaign
Posted on 3 Sep 2019
The LCC (London Cycling Campaign) believe that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity, and they has a long history in campaigning for London to become a greener city through having fewer cars and better cycling infrastructure.
A recent blog post written by Fran Graham for the LCC looks at how London must act quickly to become a decarbonised, zero-emissions city. Graham delves into the climate crisis that we are currently facing that is claiming victims, causing damage and affecting the world's poorest countries.
How London become a net zero emission city
The efforts made by the Mayor of London are acknowledged as a positive step by declaring a climate emergency, it is argued that his efforts are not good enough and targets are too far away. The city of London is encouraged to lead the way and influence the global response to the climate emergency. Graham argues that London needs to encourage zero-emission modes of transport such as walking and cycling by making the streets feel safer through a high-quality cycle network. This would include higher capacity-cycle routes being constructed around London and placing bollards in residential areas that block rat-runs. This would be a cheap and effective method of encouraging cycling and reducing congestion.
"Two-thirds of car trips made by Londoners could be cycled in less than 20 minutes"
A cure for London's car addiction is theorised through introducing a smart road user charging system. This differs from the Congestion Charge that was introduced 15 years ago as the pricing system is adapted to each vehicle. The amount of money charged would alter based on factors such as the time of day and the emissions that the vehicle emits. Money from the smart road user charging system would go towards supporting sustainable travel projects.
What next for LCC?
Towards the end of 2019, LCC will be launching a new campaign to decarbonise London's road transport. To keep up to date with the campaign visit lcc.org.uk/climate.