London for cleantech

An aerial view of several wind turbines
London, the world’s first National Park City, is committed to being greener, cleaner and ready for the future. Here are five ways it’s a centre for cleantech.

1. A bold strategy

The Mayor of London has set out an ambitious mission for the capital to become a zero-carbon, zero-pollution city by 2030 and a zero-waste city by 2050. His Green New Deal focuses on decarbonising London’s transport and buildings, and doubling the size of its green economy.

The mayor’s vision is backed up by clear strategies, targets, infrastructure and finance, including a transport strategy to achieve 80% of journeys as walking, cycling or public transport by 2041, paving the way for the best air quality of any major city in the world.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has expanded across all of London’s boroughs. On an average day, 95% of vehicles meet the emission standards, compared to 39% in 2017 when ULEZ was first announced.[1]

2. Access to capital

London is the second biggest destination for global VC investment into cleantech companies, behind San Francisco, with $4.4bn invested since 2013.

2022 saw $1.1bn of VC investment into London cleantech companies, and a further $413m in 2023. That means that there has been $3.7bn of VC investment into London cleantech companies between 2017 and 2022.[2]

314 circular economy SMEs and emerging innovators in London have also received support from ReLondon – helping businesses with expertise and guidance to implement circular business models. 

3. A place where talent thrives

London is where world-leading expertise in technology, engineering, energy, finance, legal and environmental research all converge. Two of the world’s top 50 universities for engineering and technology are in London – University College London (UCL) and Imperial.[3]

World-class research is accessible at faculties such as the Energy Futures Lab and The Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial, and The Bartlett and the Circular Economy Lab at UCL.

4. Innovative infrastructure

London is investing heavily in greening its building and transport infrastructure. As of December 2023, the city has more than 18,000 electric vehicle (EV) charge points, more than 34% of the UK market share.[4] All new London buses will be zero emission, with a commitment to deliver a 100% zero-emission bus fleet in London by 2034.

To improve air quality, the Mayor of London has expanded ULEZ, requiring vehicles to meet tighter exhaust emission standards or pay a daily charge. The ULEZ has already contributed to a 44% reduction in roadside CO2.[5]

The London Plan 2021 requires new buildings to be constructed to zero-carbon standards and larger schemes to be developed in line with circular economy principles.

5. A collaborative ecosystem

Bringing together inspirational events, such as London Climate Action Week and the Cleantech Forum Europe, vibrant networks and access to dedicated business support for entrepreneurs, London is the perfect place to grow your cleantech business.

Imperial launched the Centre for Climate Change Innovation, which aims to accelerate innovative solutions to tackle the climate crisis, while London-based Sustainable Ventures has created Europe’s largest startup ecosystem in the cleantech and sustainability sector.

Find out more about sustainable business in London.

London is a global hotspot for cleantech innovation – innovation that addresses the causes and effects of man-made climate change.
Professor Richard Templer
Imperial

See London's cleantech facts

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See a snapshot of London's cleantech scene

Use the filters in the map to discover the city's ecosystem. See the full list featured on the map [PDF].

How we can help

London & Partners offers free advice to potential and existing overseas investors, from startups to established companies.

We can help you:

  • Stay informed and access the latest developments, initiatives and incentives.
  • Connect with the wider ecosystem, including support networks and trade associations.
  • Future-proof the setup of your London business.

Contact us

Find out how we can help you set up in London.

Case study

Klimato

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How did London & Partners help you to set up and grow
your business in London?

London & Partners were there to assist us in setting up the company, we were also lucky enough to take part in the Grow London Global accelerator, equipping us for our US expansion.

What do Klimato do?

Klimato is a software for businesses to calculate the environmental impact of their food, communicate
it on menus and report their emissions based on procurement to get a complete overview of absolute-based and intensity-based emissions.

What is Klimato’s long-term sustainability goal in the coming years?

We want to keep helping companies understand their emissions, and address how they can easily start to reduce them. Klimato is allowing for both to happen by enabling users to see where they can cut emissions from both recipe planning and procurement. We are continuously tracking our own emissions and are introducing a slow travel policy to decrease our travel emissions.

What challenges did you face to become a successful sustainability business in London? How did you overcome them?

Being a foreign company in the UK, we initially struggled as we were using case studies from our native Scandinavia. So, we focused on leveraging our international customers to develop and establish local case studies allowing us to kickstart our sales in the UK.

Why do you think now is the best time to set up and grow a sustainability company in London?

The presence in London helps our company in having a local presence with key clients, making it easier for us to visit them as well as having easy access to conferences and events. The biggest events we have worked on in London are the Billie Eilish concerts at The O2, the BRIT awards and the Wimbledon Championships.
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Success stories

Hear from the companies that have benefited from London's business ecosystem.
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