King's College London

Westminster City Council has partnered with King’s Net Zero Centre to develop an ambitious delivery and research programme, to support the council’s net zero targets and unlock barriers to green finance.

The partnership will develop business models and low-carbon projects to lead clean energy and heating transition, and retrofit buildings in the central London area. Additionally, the Net Zero Centre will assist the council in developing innovative strategies, to secure the green investment pipeline required to finance these projects and deliver its ambitious net zero targets.

As one of the councils with the highest carbon emissions and poorest air quality in the UK, Westminster has established an ambitious Climate Emergency Action Plan, working in partnership with businesses, communities, and residents. Addressing these targets requires insulating millions of homes, scaling heat pump installations, and expanding district heating networks, alongside innovative solutions to reduce construction waste and emissions.

The new partnership with King's, the BuilD Programme, will focus on two key priorities. The first is addressing technological and community needs to tackle challenges related to energy technologies and their implementation. Alignment with community priorities to ensure a just and inclusive energy transition is also an essential focus of this workstream. Secondly, the partnership will focus on developing innovative strategies to fund critical projects, including green finance solutions.

Councillor Ryan Jude, Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology and Culture at Westminster City Council said, “working with King’s College London’s prestigious Net Zero Centre underlines how serious we are in tackling the climate emergency.”

“Combining the everyday challenges faced by residents, businesses and visitors with academic expertise offers us an alternative approach to problem solving, looking at climate issues from a different perspective. It is exciting to see how we can share our insights wider than just Westminster and engage with other local authorities.”

Professor Raúl Rosales, Co-Director of the Net Zero Centre, said, “this partnership leverages King’s expertise in energy systems and sustainable infrastructure to accelerate the transition to net zero in Westminster, aligning sustainable engineering, policy, and finance. This initiative aims to address technological, community, and financial needs, with a focus on heat networks, energy decarbonisation, and capacity building to advance Westminster City Council’s 2040 goals.”

King’s recently signed up to Westminster City Council’s Sustainable City Charter, a voluntary sustainability pledge that contains commitments to reduce carbon emissions from buildings, covering areas such as energy use, procurement, transport, waste, and deliveries. The charter also commits to net zero buildings by 2040 or earlier.

Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President (International, Engagement & Service) and senior lead for local partnerships at King’s, said “Building on our Anchor Alliance partnership with Westminster City Council, and our commitment to their Sustainable City Charter, it is fantastic to see another example of King’s collaborating to create impactful sustainable solutions and drive transformative, localised change to improve the lives of Londoners.”