Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has announced that the capitol’s businesses must concentrate on their carbon footprints in a bid to improve the city’s ecological impact by going ‘green’.

The programme, labelled the Green 500 campaign, is said to have the aim of reducing the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.  The campaign is being led by the London Development Agency and the campaign currently has 150 members.

20 per cent savings on energy bills are being underlined as a major benefit of “carbon mentors” and the campaign also awards a level status depending on their level of carbon saving, either bronze, silver or gold.

Boris Johnson felt that the current economic crisis was the right time to implement the campaign as a lot of money could be saved if they became more energy efficient.  “In lean economic times, there are real financial savings to be made for businesses by becoming more energy efficient, helping them to remain competitive. This can often be done in really simple and cheap ways, and it is our job in City Hall to rally, support and publicly recognise organisations that want to do so,” said Johnson.

However, the mayor threatened those who didn’t want to get on board the campaign that they might find themselves appearing on the “non-green 300” list.  At the City Hall event, Boris Johnson warned that, “I’m not averse to using the utensil of shame.  We could have a non-green 300 to go with our Green500.”

Johnson announced that the 154 members that were already part of the campaign were finding that the firms had already saved a total of £2.5 million after the first year of putting the scheme into action.  Some of the bigger names attached to the Green 500 campaign are the likes of HSBC, T-Mobile, Marks & Spencer, Chelsea Football Club and Boots.

A good example of how the campaign is working for businesses in London is Addison-Lee, the taxi firm, who are hoping to save £185,000 over the next three years by cutting pick-up distances in half.

The chief executive at Addison-Lee, Liam Griffin, claimed that joining the campaign was the right choice for any group, saying, “Joining Green500 is a win-win situation for us – in tough economic times we are taking positive steps to boost our efficiency and save money, as well as do our bit to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Group director for design, development and environment for the London Development Agency, Peter Bishop, claimed that the campaign would benefit everyone living in London, saying, “Members and partners are already saving money and I encourage more of London’s companies and its public sector bodies to join these schemes.”

Johnson will be happy as 80 per cent of the businesses in London are already taking steps to become ‘greener’.

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