Sadiq Khan How green has London mayor really been?

When Sadiq Khan launched his campaign for a third term as mayor of London, he put his green policies front and centre, highlighting his work on air pollution, the climate crisis and nature.

- Matthew Taylor

For seasoned Khan watchers, this came as little surprise. The Labour mayor, who last year published a book called Breathe: Seven Ways to Win a Greener World, has been widely praised for his work tackling air pollution, as well as his efforts on nature restoration and getting London to net zero by 2030.

But after eight years in City Hall, what exactly has been achieved and what can voters expect if Khan is re-elected when Londoners go to the polls next week? According to Paul Morozzo from Greenpeace, which has analysed the policies of the mayor and his Tory rival, Susan Hall, the two candidates' climate policies were like "chalk and cheese".

"While there's still lots of room for improvement from the mayor of London, climate and nature are clearly top priorities for Sadiq Khan," Morozzo said. "[His] history speaks for itself." Greenpeace's analysis of the two candidates' environment policies gives Khan 23.5 out of a possible 45, compared with 7.5 for Hall.

Khan's environmental credentials may prove critical in next week's contest. In 2021, almost all of the Green party candidate Siân Berry's roughly 200,000 first-preference votes went to Khan in the second round, taking his eventual lead over the Conservatives' Shaun Bailey from about 5% to 10%.