Dee Corsi
Chief Operating Officer
As we mark Earth Day here in the West End, I wanted to reflect on how far we, as a District, have come on our path to becoming a more sustainable destination.
On Earth Day 2022, Chief Operating Officer, Dee Corsi reflects on our journey to becoming a more sustainable district.
Yesterday, we hosted our Inaugural West End Climate Summit, where we simultaneously launched our Road To Zero Sustainability Action Plan. To help shape our Action Plan, we spoke to over 300 retail, hotel, restaurant and property businesses across the West End to understand their sustainability priorities and see how we can work together more effectively to accelerate progress.
It was clear from those conversations that there was a demand for New West End Company to play an active role in creating a truly sustainable district that is recognised internationally for its economic, social and environmental programmes, and we hope that our Action Plan reflects just that.
The plan focuses on three key areas; our overall path to net zero carbon, sustainable customer experiences and improved air quality - all of which are underpinned by our One Planet Living framework. You can find out about our Road To Zero ambitions and targets here.
To help businesses reach these milestones - and address countless other areas of improvement such as recycling rates, water usage and waste reduction - we have also launched our Online Business Hub, which is filled with case studies and practical advice for businesses in the West End, including initiatives that you can get involved with to work with us to achieve our ambition to become a truly sustainable district.
To celebrate the launch, It was wonderful to see so many of our West End colleagues in person at our Climate Summit, on the eve of Earth Day. Our three panels, focusing on our occupier businesses, property owners and data & measurement all had one common theme; collaboration. The biggest message to come out of our summit was how vital collaboration, not just between tenants and landlords, but with local, London and national authorities and partners is in addressing the climate emergency. Working toward a sustainable future should not be a siloed task, but can only be achieved to its highest standard if we all come together, and it was great to see our District doing just that.
I’d like to take this opportunity to give a huge thanks to our keynote speaker, Paul Scully MP, Minister for London, our panel chairs; Oliver Wayman, Co-founder at BOTTLETOP and Tor Burrows, Executive Director at Grosvenor for leading our innovative and inspiring conversations, and of course to our panelists from The Crown Estate, Montagu Evans, Derwent London, Westminster City Council, GPE, Microsoft, Bioregional, Greater London Authority, IKEA, John Lewis & Partners, Marriott Hotels & Groundwork.
The aim of our inaugural summit was to kick-start a new conversation around how we can come together and spark the ambition needed to achieve our sustainability goals as a district, share our knowledge and best practices and learn from one another. The panel conversations showed just how world-leading our West End businesses are in this area, and I hope you’ll recognise that we at New West End Company are passionate in our desire to be an ambitious partner, playing our part in shaping a more sustainable vision for the for London’s West End.
