Sadiq Khan

Mayor of London and co-chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

125

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

Advocates for the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union.

Champions aggressive urban decarbonization through policies like the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), congestion charging, and the rapid electrification of public transport.

Strongly opposes the expansion of Heathrow Airport, viewing the UK government's approval as a 'big mistake'.

Attributes the current energy shock directly to foreign policy decisions made by former US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran and Lebanon.

Demonstrates policy pragmatism on housing by being willing to temporarily lower affordable housing requirements from 35% to 20% in response to severe economic pressures on the construction industry.

Podcast consensus on Khan

Points of consensus

▶Sadiq Khan consistently claims that the current energy price shock is a direct result of former US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initiating a war with Iran and Lebanon.Apr 2026

▶Under Khan's mayorship, London's electric bus fleet has grown from approximately 30 to 3,000 vehicles.Apr–Jun 2026

▶Multiple sources confirm Khan's administration is facing significant inflation in construction costs, with steel prices rising by 50% and concrete by 44%.

▶Khan is consistently identified as the co-chair of C40, a global network of mayors collaborating on climate issues with partners like Bloomberg Philanthropies.Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶There is a tension between Khan's stated goal of 35% affordable housing in new developments and his recent 'emergency measure' to temporarily relax this requirement to 20% to stimulate construction amid economic pressures.Apr 2026

▶Khan champions ambitious climate goals, such as making London's entire 8,700-bus fleet zero-carbon by 2030, while also admitting that the city is currently not on track to meet its overall 2030 net-zero emissions target.

▶Khan strongly opposes the expansion of Heathrow Airport, calling it a 'big mistake,' which contrasts with the reality that other London airports like Gatwick, Stansted, and London City are proceeding with their own expansion plans.Apr 2026

▶While Khan touts freezing bus fares for seven years as a key policy achievement, he also acknowledges that London's current budget can only sustain this freeze until the end of July, suggesting a potential conflict between policy continuation and fiscal reality.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶Aggressive Environmental Urbanism

Sadiq Khan's mayoralty is defined by the implementation and expansion of large-scale environmental policies. This includes creating the world's largest clean air zone (ULEZ), rapidly electrifying the city's bus fleet, and installing one-third of the UK's EV charging points.

Investors should view London as a primary testbed for the scalability and economic impact of urban green policies, as its successes and failures in transport and emissions reduction are being actively replicated by other global cities.

▶Housing and Development Under Economic StrainApr 2026

Khan's housing policy has shifted from setting high affordable housing targets (35%) and achieving record pre-pandemic construction to confronting major economic headwinds. Severe inflation in steel (50%) and concrete (44%) has forced a pragmatic, temporary reduction of affordability requirements to keep development projects viable.

Analysts should be cautious about projections for London's housing market, as mayoral ambitions are highly vulnerable to macroeconomic shocks in material costs and inflation, forcing politically difficult compromises on social goals like affordable housing.

▶Geopolitical Positioning from a Mayoral PlatformApr 2026

Khan frequently uses his platform to comment on international affairs, advocating for the UK to rejoin the EU and offering pointed critiques of figures like Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. He also engages in city-level diplomacy through his co-chairmanship of the C40 network of mayors.

Khan's engagement in geopolitics demonstrates a trend of city leaders assuming roles in international relations, creating a distinct track of influence and policy-making that operates parallel to, and sometimes in opposition to, national governments.

▶Pragmatic Energy Transition

Beyond policy mandates, Khan's administration is pursuing practical infrastructure changes to decarbonize London. This includes a power purchase agreement for a solar farm to supply the Tube, installing EV chargers in lampposts, and even utilizing waste heat from the Underground to heat housing estates.

The focus on tangible infrastructure projects, like the TfL solar farm, indicates that the most durable investment opportunities in urban energy transition may lie in public-private partnerships that address the massive energy consumption of municipal services.

Source episodes

Timeline

c. 2016

Upon becoming mayor, Khan changes his predecessor's policy by stopping the purchase of any new diesel buses for London's fleet.

2017

Khan's administration establishes a target for new developments in London to include 35% affordable housing.

Pre-COVID-19 Pandemic

London achieves its highest levels of council home construction since the 1970s and the most total homes completed since the 1930s.

Recent Period

In response to significant inflation in construction materials (steel +50%, concrete +44%), Khan announces a 'short-term emergency measure' to temporarily relax the affordable housing requirement from 35% to 20%.

Present Day

Khan publicly acknowledges that London is not on its current trajectory to meet its 2030 net-zero emissions target and advocates for the UK to rejoin the European Union.

Suggested prompts

How does Sadiq Khan balance ambitious environmental targets with the economic realities of housing shortages and inflation? &nearr;What is the strategic value for a city mayor to engage in international geopolitical commentary on figures like Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu? &nearr;To what extent are London's climate policies, such as the ULEZ and EV transition, replicable in other global megacities with different economic and political contexts? &nearr;How does Khan's leadership of C40 influence his domestic policy decisions in London, and what are the tangible benefits of this international collaboration? &nearr;

Key concepts

Environmental Policy (ULEZ, Emissions) 3 ep Electric Vehicles & Infrastructure 3 ep Housing & Construction 3 ep Public Transportation 2 ep Geopolitics (Trump, EU, Palestine) 3 ep Energy Policy & Transition 2 ep C40 & Mayoral Networks 2 ep Economic Inflation 3 ep Airport Expansion 2 ep Bloomberg Philanthropies 3 ep

Notable quotes

“This was President Trump deciding with Netanyahu, the Prime Minister Netanyahu from Israel to start a war with Iran and Lebanon without a legal basis, without a game plan, without an exit strategy.”

Sadiq Khan · London’s mayor on lessons from one of the world’s greenest cities | Zero: The Climate Race

“At the moment, if you did a a curve and a graph we're not on target to meet zero net zero by 2030.”

Sadiq Khan · London’s mayor on lessons from one of the world’s greenest cities | Zero: The Climate Race

“for a short-term emergency measure... i will relax the requirement of 35 to 20 because it's a win-win you get the schemes off the ground”

Sadiq Khan · London’s mayor on lessons from one of the world’s greenest cities | Zero: The Climate Race

“Also, by the way, added bonus, reduced carbon emissions equivalent to 3 million flights from London to New York”

Sadiq Khan · Sadiq Khan on 10 Years of Wins and Losses as London Mayor

Report last updated: Apr 28, 2026

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