London business giants and landlords call for clean energy collaboration

Canary Wharf Group (CWG), Landsec and RBS are among a coalition of big-name businesses to have joined forces with commercial landlords to call for greater action on clean energy in tenanted buildings Convened by non-profit The Climate Group, the businesses – CWG, Derwent London, E.ON, Landsec, LeasePlan, Royal Haskoning DHV, RBS, Schroders, Signify UK&I and Vattenfall UK - have jointly signed a statement calling for commercial landlords and business tenants to lead by example on renewable energy, low-carbon transport and smart energy solutions. The statement argues that, because business premises account for 40% of London’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such moves would help the capital “become a beacon of climate action and clean growth”. Specifically, it urges tenant companies to collaborate more closely with each other, and with their landlords, to ensure city-wide uptake of clean energy technologies and systems on the road to the UK’s 2050 net-zero target. This call to action comes after a survey by edie, in association with Big Clean Switch and The Climate Group's RE100 initiative, has found that four out of five businesses in rented properties are struggling to switch to clean energy. Other key findings of the survey were that 83% of business renting sites found it challenging to switch to a renewable energy provider, while 80% had faced barriers the installation of on-site renewable energy systems, sub-metering and gaining access to energy data.