Businesses and developers will be asked to add roof gardens to London’s iconic buildings, under plans to help the environment published by Boris Johnson.

The Mayor’s environment programme for the capital also includes proposals to develop a new bio-degradable form of chewing gum – to end the “blight” of gum on the streets.

Mr Johnson announced plans to create more than 2,000 new allotments, to encourage Londoners to grow their own food.

Planning regulations will be reformed to make it harder for developers to buy up back gardens to build new properties.

And the programme, published in a detailed report, also highlighted proposals to convert 1,000 vehicles in the Greater London Authority’s fleet to electric power by 2015, to reduce CO2 emissions.

It warned that global warning is a threat to London, partly because of the risk of the Thames flooding.

The report said: “The greatest climate-related risks to London are flooding from the freshwater Thames and tributaries to the Thames, and from heavy rainfall overwhelming the drainage network.

"There are currently 100,000 properties which have a greater than 0.5 per cent chance of being flooded from London’s rivers in any one year.

“One in seven properties in London have a two per cent annual chance of being flooded following heavy rainfall.”

It said “green roofs” could reduce carbon emissions by producing natural insulation, reducing the need for heating.

“The Mayor will work to encourage some of London’s iconic buildings to have green roofs or roof gardens,” the report said.

Cleaning up chewing gum on London’s pavements costs local councils millions of pounds each year, the report said.

“We will be supporting trials of next-generation gum technologies, particularly biodegradable gum, and putting pressure on the big gum companies to switch to these new technologies.”

Helping Londoners to grow their own food would not only help the environment but also allow residents to eat “healthy, locally produced and affordable” produce, the report said.

“We will add 2,012 new growing spaces by 2012. These growing spaces will include pocket parks in urban environments and green roofs.”

Mr Johnson announced plans for a £4 million fund to encourage investment in environmental projects, saying he hoped it would attract further funding from the government, European Union and the private sector.

He said: “To tackle energy inefficiency and cut carbon, we need to make London's buildings and energy supply greener.

“We want to provide an easy way to tackle the maze of complex red tape that currently acts as a deterrent as well as provide the up front funds needed to take action. An innovative eco-fund will help London become energy efficient in a simplified way.

“This will help to boost a low carbon economy in London, creating thousands of green collar jobs and fits with my overall goal to deliver genuine changes through high impact, value for money initiatives.”

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