The Capital Consumption report from the London Sustainable Development Commission and Bioregional takes into account the ‘hidden emissions’ of food and consumer goods produced elsewhere.

The report, released today (December 4) traditional measure of the city’s footprint is 44m tonnes of CO2 a year has been based on direct emissions from energy use and transport.

However, the report shows with the inclusion of the emissions of goods imported into London the footprint is approximately 90m tonnes of CO2 a year.

A spokeswoman for the report said: “This exercise has never been attempted before on this scale, or for such a prominent world city as London, and provides a leading international example of this approach.

“With a key theme of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit focused on the balance to be struck between developed and developing economies, the report is a bold attempt by London to show the true scale of its emissions.

“It also sets out actions across a range of sectors that can be taken to mitigate their impact and achieve a shift to a more sustainable economy.”

Luke Walsh

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