London is not as environmentally progressive as the Mayor would have us believe, according to research done by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

While Boris Johnson has been playing up London’s environmental credentials in advance of his visit to Copenhagen, Murad Qureshi AM has learned that those credentials are not as sound as has been claimed. New research carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and sponsored by Siemens, assesses 30 European cities on their environmental sustainability. The report ranks London at number 11, below both Paris and Amsterdam. Fittingly for this week’s conference, Copenhagen comes out at number one.

Labour Environment Spokesperson on the London Assembly, Murad Qureshi, said: "It’s all very well for Boris to boast about London’s green credentials, but he’s spent the last 18 months unpicking many of the environmentally progressive measures put in place by his predecessor. Boris likes to talk green, but he’s trying to take the credit for schemes he would never bring in himself.

"The truth is that under Boris London’s fallen from being a world leader on environmental matters to an also ran, with the EU on our back over London’s pollution levels."

Murad added: "Clearly the EU is unhappy with his air quality strategy. Only last week the Commission confirmed they will be taking action against the UK government because of London’s levels of PM10 emissions."