This is an unusual document in that it assesses the performance of London with regard to greenhouse gas emissions from a consumption perspective rather than the more conventional production perspective. The consumption perspective assigns to London the carbon dioxide emissions created by the products consumed in London but manufactured elsewhere, and this report considers how London can radically cut its emissions through changes both in production and in consumption. It also considers how measures to reduce consumption-based carbon emissions could also help create jobs, build a more resilient economy and benefit the health and social well-being of Londoners.

The consumption perspective includes direct emissions from buildings and transport that are also included in the production perspective, but adds to this all the embodied carbon dioxide in goods, food and materials used by London residents. Thus it includes the impacts of the supply chains of products and services reaching London, including those that occur abroad. But it does not include emissions from London businesses or industries where the end consumer is not a Londoner. This kind of consumption-based carbon accounting is important in wealthy nations or cities, as conventional greenhouse gas emission inventories do not capture a large part of the emissions that arise from their population’s consumption. As this report shows, London’s total carbon dioxide emissions measured from the consumption perspective are double those measured from a production perspective. Using the perspective of consumption, Londoners have carbon footprints of 12.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year – although this varies from 10 to 14 tonnes per person per year between London’s different local government areas (boroughs).

The report describes how emissions were benchmarked and considers what a consumption-based carbon target would look like. It then discusses in detail what measures would be needed to achieve a 90 per cent reduction in consumption emissions by 2050 – looking at decarbonizing grid electricity and reducing the contributions of food (currently 10 per cent of London’s consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions, including catering services), consumer goods (12 per cent, with clothing, furniture/carpets and newspapers/books/stationary as the largest contributors), private services (11 per cent, with education, housing rentals and insurance as the largest contributors) built infrastructure (9 per cent, mostly from emissions embodied in construction materials), housing infrastructure (5 per cent, mostly from building new homes) and the public sector (11 per cent, mostly central and local government and health and education services). Household energy accounts for 22 per cent (half from electricity use, half from direct fuel use) and personal transport for 20 per cent (most from car fuel, air travel and public transport, although buying and maintaining private cars is also important).