Londoners confused on best way to help the environment

Despite 81 per cent of Londoners stating that they will have voted with their green conscience last week, the new research shows that many Londoners aren't clear whether it's more important to recycle or cycle, switch off their standby or switch their 4x4 to a hybrid. The mayoral election has created debate but no clarity on environmental issues, highlighting a need for Boris to seek to end Londoners' eco-fusion' and to provide the policies that pack the greatest environmental punch.

The vast majority of the capital's residents (93 per cent) consider they are environmentally aware, yet the findings reveal a clear gulf between how Londoners believe they can make the biggest environmental difference and the bottom line impact of these actions. In the research, most Londoners state that recycling is the single most effective way they believe they can reduce their own carbon footprint (43 per cent). Recycling was three times more likely to be identified by people as the most effective environmental behavioural change than the other options, which were rated in priority order as: 1 Recycling (43 per cent) 2 = Switching 4x4 to drive a hybrid car (12 per cent) 2 = Using public transport (12 per cent) 4 Taking holidays in the UK rather than abroad (10 per cent) 5 Replacing your boiler with a more energy efficient version (9 per cent) In fact Londoners' environmental priorities are almost entirely out of kilter with the actions that can make a real difference in terms of environmental impact, rated below: 1. Public transport (saves 3.5 tonnes per year)i 2. Replacing your boiler with a more energy efficient version (saves 1.6 tonnes per year)ii 3. Switching 4x4 for a hybrid (1.4 tonnes per year)iii 4. Family of four staying at home instead of taking a return flight to Mallorca (saves 1.23 tonnes)iv 5. Recycling however, offers a lower impact with CO2 savings on average of 420kg per household, per yearv.

Boris, who has committed himself to his predecessor's target of reducing London's CO2 emissions to 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2025, has also shown signs of misplaced green priorities. A key focus of his environment manifesto was to motivate people to reduce waste by promoting new schemes that pay Londoners to recycle. While recycling is important, the prominence given to this policy is disproportionate to its environmental impact when compared to more mundane environmental actions, such as upgrading an older boiler to a newer more energy efficient one.

Eddy Collier, Managing Director, British Gas Central Heating Installations: "Londoners have made clear that they want to make sure that their vote counts for the environment. The confused belief that recycling, or trading down your car to a hybrid is one of the most important things you can do to curb your carbon footprint shows the level of eco-fusion' in London.

Unglamorous actions such as swapping out your old boiler or taking the bus will have a much more significant impact. Londoners need Boris to provide them with a clear steer on which environmental actions will make the greatest difference."

After such a fiercely fought mayoral contest with green warrior' incumbent Ken Livingstone, London will clearly expect Boris Johnson to make good his pledge to make London the greenest city in the world'. It is therefore vital to both London, and to Boris, that the new mayor looks to ensure that Londoners are empowered with both the right knowledge and policies to ensure London's best chance of tackling climate change.

British Gas data, collected from British Gas'1 Energy Savers Report audits of 1.5 million UK homes, identifies London's best and worst performing boroughs in terms of the energy efficiency ratings of the city's households. The data reveals that Tower Hamlets is the best performing borough and Kingston-upon-Thames is a carbon hotspot' with the data revealing it is the worst performing London borough in terms of the energy efficiency of its housing stock.