£100k in funding has been made available for City businesses to help combat London’s toxic air.

The City of London Corporation’s Air Quality Champions Grant Scheme will fund City businesses who want to fight back against air pollution – with up to £10,000 available to each firm to design and implement their proposals.

Through the grant scheme, City firms are being invited to bid for innovative local solutions to fight air pollution. Examples could include new electric charge points for delivery and service vehicles, working with suppliers to reduce vehicle emissions and empowering staff to monitor air quality on their daily commutes and City journeys. Successful schemes will be trialled and rolled out to other businesses in the Square Mile.

The scheme is part of the City Corporation’s ambitious plans for a Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN), jointly funded by the Mayor of London and the City Corporation. Plans for the LEN also include new electric vehicle charging infrastructure, green taxi ranks and planting and growing projects designed to improve air quality around Barbican and Golden Lane Estate areas.

Jeremy Simons, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Environment Committee, said:

“There is a real determination from London’s businesses and workers to see a major improvement in the capital’s air quality. This new scheme will empower City firms to build on their existing initiatives to make a real impact in their local area.

“We are already working closely with businesses of all kinds to reduce emissions and exposure to air pollution in the Square Mile. Construction and demolition companies have signed up to reduce emissions from equipment used on sites in the City. Addison Lee, London’s biggest private hire taxi firm, now automatically switch hybrid vehicles to ‘electric mode’ in key areas of the City, and we are working with businesses to reduce emissions from their buildings.”

Businesses can apply online at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Cityair. The closing date for applications is 29 September.

The City of London Corporation has been engaging with business on air quality for several years through its City Air Programme. It has banned the purchase of diesel vehicles for its own fleet of 300 vehicles - and is pioneering a London-wide crackdown on drivers who leave their engines idling. Its City Air app gives Londoners low pollution travel routes across London and advice and alerts when air pollution is high.

The City Corporation has also introduced a City-wide 20mph zone, and its new procurement rules have brought in tight restrictions on harmful emissions from bulldozers and generators.

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Media enquiries

Carl Locsin, Media Officer, City of London Corporation

T 020 7332 3654 / M 0738 862 229

E carl.locsin@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Notes to editors

About the Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN)

• The Mayor of London awarded the City of London Corporation £1 million over three years to implement a ‘Low Emission Neighbourhood’ (LEN) in the Barbican and Golden Lane estates area following a successful funding application submitted in April 2016.

• The City Corporation is match funding the Mayor of London’s contribution meaning the total LEN project budget will be around £2 million.

• The City of London Low Emission Neighbourhood is one of five that will be set up across eight boroughs that will come into full effect by the start of 2019.

About the City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation provides local government and policing services for the financial and commercial heart of Britain, the 'Square Mile'. In addition, the City Corporation has three roles:

• We support London’s communities by working in partnership with neighbouring boroughs on economic regeneration, education and skills. In addition, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, makes grants of around £20 million annually to tackle disadvantage across London.

• We also help look after key London heritage and green spaces including Tower Bridge, the Museum of London, Barbican Arts Centre, City gardens, Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches, and important commons in London.

• We also support and promote the ‘City’ as a world-leading financial and business hub, with outward and inward business delegations, high-profile civic events and research-driven policies, all reflecting a long-term approach.

See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk for more details.