{"id":1829,"date":"2021-07-12T09:37:12","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T08:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.erjjiostudios.com\/envision\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2023-09-01T08:03:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T07:03:14","slug":"the-rise-and-stall-of-carbon-offsetting-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.erjjiostudios.com\/envision\/news\/the-rise-and-stall-of-carbon-offsetting-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise and Stall of Carbon Offsetting in London"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Greater London Authority (GLA) introduced carbon offsetting for all major domestic developments[1]<\/a> in October 2016, in line with Mayor\u2019s plan to be a zero-carbon city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) within the London Plan area are required to set up carbon offset funds and collect from developers to meet any shortfall in the reduction of carbon from new developments. The GLA monitors and reports this progress, with the latest progress reported for 2020. Nahla Abdalla<\/strong> takes a closer look at London\u2019s progress towards carbon offsetting schemes established by local authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Big Picture<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Since carbon offsetting mechanisms were put in place in London, nearly \u00a390 Million in revenue has been collected or secured by legal agreement – the equivalent to 50,000 tonnes of CO2<\/sub>. These funds were collected from developments that have not met the net zero carbon target on site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The payment is calculated by multiplying the cumulative carbon shortfall for a development by the offset price to confirm the required cash-in-lieu contribution. The GLA\u2019s price for offsetting carbon to this point has been \u00a360 per tonne calculated over 30 years. The carbon offset price (for regulated energy) introduced in the London Plan 2021 has now risen to \u00a395 over 30 years, so effectively \u00a32,850 per tonne. The implementation of the zero carbon and offsetting policies varies between all 35 London LPAs. All LPAs reported using a GLA-recommended carbon offset price for a 30-year period, except for Islington (\u00a3920\/tonne CO2<\/sub>) and Lewisham (\u00a3104\/tonne CO2<\/sub>) per annum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 1 below shows the split between collected and ‘secured’ revenues across the whole of London and Table 2 shows the split by LPA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 1 \u2013 Total value of carbon offset payments collected and secured since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total amount collected since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Total amount secured by legal agreement but not collected since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Total<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a332,437,763<\/td>\u00a357,538,560<\/td>\u00a389,976,323<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Table 2 \u2013 Breakdown of carbon offset payments collected and secured since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPA<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Total amount collected   since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Total amount secured by legal agreement but not collected since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Barking & Dagenham<\/td>\u00a318,370<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr>
Barnet<\/td>\u00a351,297<\/td>\u00a32,158,942<\/td><\/tr>
Bexley<\/td>\u00a368,000<\/td>\u00a3517,508<\/td><\/tr>
Brent<\/td>\u00a3531,246<\/td>\u00a3382,980<\/td><\/tr>
Bromley<\/td>\u00a3259,226<\/td>\u00a31,102,380<\/td><\/tr>
Camden<\/td>\u00a32,143,955<\/td>\u00a33,316,295<\/td><\/tr>
City of London Corporation<\/td>\u00a3345,160<\/td>\u00a33,422,643<\/td><\/tr>
Croydon<\/td>\u00a31,424,000<\/td>\u00a33,684,000<\/td><\/tr>
Ealing<\/td>\u00a3225,540<\/td>Information not available<\/td><\/tr>
Enfield<\/td>\u00a3321,998<\/td>\u00a394,900<\/td><\/tr>
Greenwich<\/td>\u00a3600,874<\/td>\u00a31,355,378<\/td><\/tr>
Hackney<\/td>\u00a31,305,690<\/td>\u00a31,330,663<\/td><\/tr>
Hammersmith & Fulham<\/td>\u00a3252,667<\/td>\u00a33,100,000<\/td><\/tr>
Haringey<\/td>\u00a3755,060<\/td>\u00a32,866,594<\/td><\/tr>
Harrow<\/td>\u00a3268,222<\/td>\u00a31,593,704<\/td><\/tr>
Havering<\/td>\u00a3383,000<\/td>Information not available<\/td><\/tr>
Hillingdon<\/td>\u00a3900,000<\/td>Information not available<\/td><\/tr>
Hounslow<\/td>\u00a3747,941<\/td>\u00a32,037,945<\/td><\/tr>
Islington<\/td>\u00a37,231,489<\/td>\u00a33,176,127<\/td><\/tr>
Kensington & Chelsea<\/td>\u00a3110,285<\/td>\u00a359,435<\/td><\/tr>
Kingston<\/td>\u00a3319,819<\/td>\u00a3353,166<\/td><\/tr>
Lambeth<\/td>\u00a3186,224<\/td>\u00a34,019,201<\/td><\/tr>
Lewisham<\/td>\u00a3236,196<\/td>\u00a3833,264<\/td><\/tr>
London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)<\/td>\u00a3130,000<\/td>\u00a3130,000<\/td><\/tr>
Merton<\/td>\u00a3139,259<\/td>\u00a3282,817<\/td><\/tr>
Newham<\/td>\u00a3684,061<\/td>\u00a33,012,836<\/td><\/tr>
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC)<\/td>0<\/td>Information not available<\/td><\/tr>
Redbridge<\/td>0<\/td>\u00a3240,762<\/td><\/tr>
Richmond on Thames<\/td>\u00a314,267<\/td>\u00a3470,613<\/td><\/tr>
Southwark<\/td>\u00a31,933,249<\/td>\u00a34,868,915<\/td><\/tr>
Sutton<\/td>0<\/td>\u00a344,037<\/td><\/tr>
Tower Hamlets<\/td>\u00a33,900,000<\/td>\u00a37,700,000<\/td><\/tr>
Waltham Forest<\/td>\u00a31,845,319<\/td>\u00a315,840<\/td><\/tr>
Wandsworth<\/td>\u00a3405,348<\/td>\u00a32,897,615<\/td><\/tr>
Westminster<\/td>\u00a34,700,000<\/td>\u00a32,600,000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tables 1 and 2 show that the amount that has been collected and is available for spending is 36% of the overall total, increasing from 22% in 2019.  However, this value will vary from year to year due for various reasons, including the time lag between securing of funds and their actual collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 3: Total carbon offset fund expenditure since 1 October 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPA<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Expenditure<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Camden<\/td>\u00a3313,222  <\/td><\/tr>
City of London<\/td>\u00a314,382<\/td><\/tr>
Croydon<\/td>\u00a3843,000<\/td><\/tr>
Enfield<\/td>\u00a3200,000<\/td><\/tr>
Greenwich<\/td>\u00a39,960<\/td><\/tr>
Hackney<\/td>\u00a3775,020<\/td><\/tr>
Hammersmith & Fulham<\/td>\u00a3125,296<\/td><\/tr>
Hillingdon<\/td>\u00a3250,000<\/td><\/tr>
Hounslow<\/td>\u00a3364,415<\/td><\/tr>
Islington<\/td>\u00a36,335,439<\/td><\/tr>
Kingston<\/td>\u00a3175,152<\/td><\/tr>
Lewisham<\/td>\u00a330,000<\/td><\/tr>
Merton<\/td>\u00a356,449<\/td><\/tr>
Tower Hamlets<\/td>\u00a33,100,000<\/td><\/tr>
Waltham Forest<\/td>\u00a3849,387<\/td><\/tr>
Westminster<\/td>\u00a3394,707<\/td><\/tr>
TOTAL<\/td>\u00a313,836,429<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of the 35 LPAs that have disclosed progress, only fifteen have reported they had begun spending their carbon offset funds, with one (Enfield) reporting that the funds were committed but had not been spent yet. Whilst there has been recent progress in terms of total expenditure and the number of LPAs spending (the number of LPAs has doubled since the 2019 survey), there is still significant way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers to Collecting and Spending Funds<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Some of the key limitations to spending, include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n