Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of neglecting London after it was was announced that he is to fly to Brazil for a conference - as head of a group committed to tackling climate change.
The mayor is due to make a 12,000-mile round trip to Rio for the 2025 C40 World Mayors Summit in November, just days before the UN climate change conference COP30 is held in Belem, Brazil.
Sir Sadiq is co-chair of C40, a network of almost 100 city mayors from across the world trying to reduce global warming and halve emissions by 2030, in the face of opposition from “climate delayers and deniers”.
The cost of the trip for Sir Sadiq and his aides is expected to be covered by the C40, which receives funding from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies.
But Thomas Turrell, environment spokesman for the City Hall Conservatives, said: "The Net Zero Mayor is jet-setting off again to lecture us about the evils of emissions.
“Meanwhile, Assembly business here in London will be delayed and clogged up as the mayor chooses his international soirees over the job Londoners elected him to do.
“The contempt this man has for the London Assembly, and for the voters who put him there, should be enough to make him think long and hard whilst he waits to land somewhere else overseas."
It came as City Hall and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced on Tuesday a £2.8m expansion of the Breathe London scheme of installing air quality monitors across the city to assess pollution levels.
The expansion will add 146 more “real time” sensors to the network – including 10 monitors placed in and around Oxford Street to assess whether the mayor’s proposed part-pedestrianisation of the street helps to cut toxic emissions.
The three-day C40 summit in Rio will be at least the 20th foreign trip undertaken by Sir Sadiq since he became mayor in 2016.
He is also due to visit Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa this summer after announcing last December that he would become the first London mayor to lead a trade delegation to Africa.
Sir Sadiq was also in Paris on Monday, meeting other C40 mayors, he revealed on his Instagram account.
The Rio summit, which will be held from November 3-5, will aim to put “local voices at the heart of negotiations” due to take place at COP 30.
Sir Sadiq said: “The C40 World Mayors Summit in Rio de Janeiro will be a defining moment for city-led climate leadership on the road to COP30.
“Cities are already delivering practical, urgent solutions to the climate crisis: cutting emissions, creating green jobs and improving the lives of our residents.
“In this pivotal year, I’m proud to convene a summit that will champion city leadership and send a clear message: that in the face of growing climate denial and delay, mayors are stepping up."
Sir Sadiq has also visited India, Pakistan, the USA, Canada, Argentina and mainland Europe in his time as mayor.
A number of these trips have been linked to his role with C40. Sir Sadiq is revered by some other city mayors for initiatives such as the Ulez (ultra-low emission zone).
But he has faced ongoing criticism closer to home, especially from his Conservative rivals at City Hall.
Tory assembly member Neil Garratt told The Standard: "Nothing says 'climate leadership' like burning thousands of gallons of jet fuel to give a speech about reducing emissions. Yet here in London, Khan's own climate change plan lies in tatters.
“He claims he’s still committed to hitting his net zero targets in five years, yet some are progressing at such a crawl they’ll take over 1,000 years while others are binned without explanation.
“Is he in denial? Has he given up? Does he think it’s impossibly expensive? I fear Londoners will get no serious answers from their mayor, just more platitudes.”
Mayor Khan says he won't do pay per mile. But he also says he's still committed to his Net Zero 2030 plan which "requires" pay per mile to reduce traffic by 27%. So which is it? I tried to get some sense out of him today. pic.twitter.com/JrRxdlZ4ME
— Neil Garratt AM (@NeilGarratt) June 19, 2025
Questioned about his foreign travel, he told the London Assembly last year that of the 16 foreign trips has had made between May 2016 and February 2024, 11 had involved plane travel.
Since that date, he has attended the opening of the Paris Olympics (by Eurostar) and made another visit to New York, his fourth visit to the USA as mayor.
He also travelled last year to the Vatican to meet the late Pope Francis.
Sir Sadiq describes the foreign trips as legitimate efforts to “bang the drum for London” and attract inward investment and tourism.
He has pointed to the record of his predecessor as mayor, Boris Johnson, who made 37 international visits (34 by plane) over two terms.
The C40 World Mayors Summit is held every three years. Previous summits have been hosted by London, New York, Seoul, São Paulo, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Copenhagen and most recently Buenos Aires, which was attended by Sir Sadiq.
Mr Bloomberg, the UN special envoy on climate ambition, said: “The C40 World Mayors Summit in Rio will spotlight the progress cities are making and help ensure their voices are heard at COP30.”
The expansion of the Breathe London network will take the total number of air quality sensors to about 350 over the next four years.
Community groups have used Breathe London data in their efforts to ensure cleaner air near schools, green spaces and other community spaces.
Data from 30 Breathe London sensors installed at 18 primary schools showed that closing roads around schools to traffic at pick-up and drop-off times reduced harmful nitrogen dioxide levels by up to 23 per cent.
Sadiq Khan reveals plan to become first London mayor to make trade visit to Africa
Sadiq Khan: Why I told the Pope's climate summit we must double down, not back down
Harlem shuffle: Sadiq Khan surprises New Yorkers by ditching limousine and walking to meetings
Sadiq Khan suffered suspected ‘minor heart attack’ at COP26 in Glasgow
