London mayor Ken Livingstone is to insist that developments in London use natural materials for insulation in an effort to make the city the world’s most sustainable.

The proposal is one of a range of measures in the mayor’s “blueprint for a sustainable London”, in which he pledges to refuse planning permission for developments that do not meet tough new standards.

Livingstone has called for renewable energy sources to be incorporated into all new buildings and for the inclusion of hanging gardens and roof gardens.

The mayor has demanded that at least 30% of construction materials should be sourced from within 35 miles in order to reduce transport pollution, and he wants housing developments to recycle or compost more than a third of their waste by the end of the decade.

In addition, development should be on brownfield land and large projects should have no carbon emission.