Westminster’s world-famous buildings help make London the incredibly exciting and vibrant place it is today. But non-domestic buildings also contribute 71% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more information on our interactive emissions dashboard.
This contributes to climate change, impacting the quality of life of residents, workers, and visitors, and dictating how far buildings will continue to meet our needs into the future.
Organisations which own, manage or occupy non-domestic buildings in Westminster are taking climate action by signing the Sustainable City Charter.
The charter is a free, voluntary, sustainability pledge supported by the Westminster Property Association and Westminster City Council. It contains eight commitments for reducing carbon emissions from non-domestic buildings, covering areas such as energy use, procurement, transport, waste and deliveries, and committing to net zero buildings by 2040 or earlier.
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Hear from one of our early signatories, the Royal Opera House, about how the Sustainable City Charter is helping them take steps to improve sustainability across their buildings. We are excited this iconic global institution has pledged to help us reach net zero by 2040.
And hear from one of our most recent signatories, The St Marylebone CE School, about their decision to join the charter. Kat Pugh, the school's headteacher, said:
St Marylebone students wear green and want to be green. They want to preserve and protect a world which is green, clean, healthy and sustainable. We are delighted to be part of the Sustainability City Charter to give credibility and momentum to our commitment to a more sustainable, climate-friendly life in our school community now and for years to come.
Upon signing up to the charter, your organisation will be granted access to an evolving toolkit of support and advice designed to help all kinds of organisations regardless of where you are on your sustainability journey. Working together to share knowledge and find solutions means we can collectively tackle the climate emergency.
You can read the charter and more details about the application process below.
If your organisation is interested in signing up to the charter, please fill out the short expression of interest form below. A member of our team will then get in touch to support you through the next steps.
Fill in our expression of interest
If you would like more information or have a question that isn’t addressed in the charter document above, get in touch with us via [email protected]
Which organisations can sign up to the charter?
The charter is open to any organisation, whether for profit or not, which owns, manages or occupies one or more non-domestic buildings in Westminster, including micro businesses, major landowners, public bodies, charities and many more.
Why should organisations sign up to the charter?
It’s free to become a charter signatory, and we have ensured that the application form is short and simple to fill in. Benefits to becoming a charter signatory include:
- Get ahead of proposed government EPC legislation and demonstrate to residents and customers your business’ commitment to tackling the climate emergency. Your business will gain use of charter promotional materials and branding.
- Access a 10% discount on recycling services through Westminster City Council's Commercial Waste Service. This offer is available for new customers only, but charter signatories who are existing customers of this service will be eligible for the offer at contract renewal.
- Gain exclusive access to networking and knowledge-sharing events focused on business climate action, as well as an evolving toolkit of guidance to support you in implementing the charter commitments in your organisation.
- Landlords can use the charter to improve engagement with their occupiers to collectively tackle the climate emergency.
How does the charter application process work?
- Complete the short expression of interest form. A member of the team will then get in touch with you and share the signatory application form.
- Once you are ready, submit your full application form via email. This will be your opportunity to provide information about your plans and your baseline emissions. This will also confirm your participation in the charter.
- Once confirmed as a signatory, you will be required to demonstrate your action on the charter commitments through an annual progress update based on the data provided through the initial application.