Sadiq Khan celebrates planting 500,000th tree despite criticism

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter 

Sadiq Khan has celebrated planting the 500,000th tree funded since he became mayor in 2016, after critics said he was “all talk and no action”.

The tree – an apple tree – was planted on Friday morning, by the mayor at Garratt Park School in Waldron Road, Earlsfield.

Earlier in the week – at an event held to mark National Tree Week – the mayor announced a new half a million pounds of investment into tree-planting across London.

City Hall said that the “record-breaking” 500,000 trees planted since Mr Khan’s election was already the result of almost £7million of investment.

Mr Khan said: “What people may not realise is the importance of trees to tackling the climate emergency, to cleaning up the air in our city, but also to make sure people’s mental health is better.

“We know because of the eight million trees across our city, that’s captured and stores more than two million tonnes of carbon. Trees are also really important in taking in particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.

“But also we know unfortunately, in the more deprived parts of our cities, there tends to be fewer trees – and we know from the pandemic the difference that having a connection with nature meant.”

But, the mayor’s environmental record was criticised by Tory assembly member Tony Devenish, who called the mayor “all talk and no action”.

He pointed to a pledge made by the mayor in a Guardian interview and subsequent tweet in 2015, in which he promised to plant two million trees in his first term alone.

Mr Devenish, who represents Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham at City Hall, said: “Eight years later, he is today celebrating planting just a quarter of that number…

“As COP28 gets underway, today’s announcement from the mayor sums up his poor environmental record.

“Having focused all his efforts on extending ULEZ as part of an unfair tax grab on motorists which does nothing for air pollution, Sadiq Khan has very little to celebrate after eight years in office.”

In response, the mayor said: “I was quite clear in my manifesto, when I stood to be mayor in 2016 – we would massively increase the number of trees being planted.”

In his book published earlier this year, Breathe, Mr Khan said that the 2015 pledge was “one of the biggest mistakes I made when running for mayor” and that it served as “a reminder to always, always do your homework before announcing a policy”.

His 2016 manifesto did not include a figure, only committing to “embark on a major tree-planting programme across London”.

Mr Khan continued: “We’re on target to increase tree cover – tree canopy – by 10 per cent, but at the same time, rewilding our city.

“So we’re not just planting more trees, not just greening our city more – we’ve also brought back beavers, bats and bees and we’re making sure that we restore our rivers, meadows and wetlands.

“It’s incredibly important that we get more support from the Government. At a time when COP28 has begun, the Government’s rowing back on our climate change commitments. In London, we’re speeding ahead.”

Mr Khan has said that the expanded ULEZ will enable five million Londoners to breathe cleaner air, and that it will save lives.

Sadiq Khan, pictured with Assembly Member Leonie Cooper, MP Rosena Allin-Khan, and students and staff at Garratt Park School (Picture: Caroline Teo/Greater London Authority)