As London continues to save air quality with the Ultra Low Emission Zones, all across London, Sadiq Khan’s focus still remains the same. Which is to help pollution decrease and help there to be a less polluted environment across the UK.
According to researchers from philosophical transaction of the royal section A, air pollution has been an issue for about 2400 years.
Sadiq Khan has mainly focused on the decrease of air pollution due his love for sports and being diagnosed with adult on-set asthma, whilst training for a London marathon. This gave him the drive and determination to make sure the air is healthy for all Londoners.
Copyright: © 2014 Vickie Flores
Sadiq Khan answered a few questions I had about the future of London and air pollution, and how the environment can make a difference in people’s health.
What Is The End Goal?
SK: “I want to make sure that Londoners are not forced to breathe dangerously polluted air. My air quality polices, such as the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), are aimed at reducing air pollution levels to below the legal limits. Without these policies it would have taken 193 years from 2016 for London to meet legal pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide, but we are now on track to achieve this by 2025”.
Would People In The UK Need To Start Driving Electric Cars?
SK: “Our cars, lorries, trains and buses are the second biggest source of carbon emissions and one of the biggest contributors to London’s air pollution. I have already made sure that no new diesel taxis are allowed on London’s streets, and you may have seen some electric taxis in London already. The entire London bus fleet now meets or exceeds the cleanest emission standards, and I am committed to only buying electric buses from now on”.
“We will definitely need more drivers to switch to electric cars to meet our air quality goals, but electric cars will not solve the problem entirely as they still produce the tiny PM2.5 particles that we know are dangerous to human health.”
“My priority is to help people choose alternatives and avoid driving altogether whenever possible. More than a third of car trips in London could be made in under 25 minutes by walking, and two-thirds could be cycled in less than 20 minutes.”
“A key aim of my Transport Strategy is for 80 per cent of all journeys to be made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2041. Reducing private car use is necessary to achieve this. However, I do not have the legal power to ban any vehicles over any area for the purposes of air quality. This is why I have focused on other measures, including charging schemes such as the ULEZ, instead.”
“Introducing the option to pay a charge is also fairer than instigating an outright ban because it allows for polluting vehicles that are only used occasionally and therefore contribute little to overall pollution to still be used, whilst strongly incentivising the most frequent and biggest polluters to change their vehicle or behavior.”
Do You Think Increasing The Congestion Charge Zone Will Really Decrease Air Pollution?
SK: “Unlike the Congestion Charge, which applies to all vehicles, the ULEZ charge only needs to be paid for vehicles that do not meet specified emissions standards. We know that emissions-based charging works and that its impacts are rapid. In the first 10 months of the central London ULEZ (before the pandemic), the scheme had already helped clean up the air in central London contributing to a 44 per cent reduction in harmful roadside nitrogen dioxide in the zone and fighting the climate emergency by reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the area by six per cent. But I know that too many Londoners still breathe polluted air.”
“Therefore, I expanded the ULEZ up to the North and South Circular Roads in October 2021 – an area 18 times bigger than the central zone. In addition to expanding the ULEZ, on 1 March I introduced tougher standards for the most polluting lorries, buses and coaches operating within the existing London-wide Low Emission Zone. Together, these schemes are expected to result in 92 per cent of roads in London complying with legal air pollution limits by the end of the year.”
What’s Happening Now?
Sk: “My Air Quality Team is currently reviewing the remaining areas and developing local approaches to address them.”
“Related to air pollution is of course the urgent need to rapidly reduce London’s carbon emissions. Recently, I published research showing what is needed to reach my aim of London being a net zero city by 2030, which you can read here.”
“The report sets out different possible approaches to reaching net zero. I believe the ‘Accelerated Green’ pathway is the best option for London. Achieving this will require massive action over the rest of the decade by us all, including:
- “Nearly 40 per cent reduction in the total heat demand of our buildings, requiring over 2 million homes and a quarter of a million non-domestic buildings to become properly insulated”
- 2.2 million heat pumps in operation in London by 2030
- 460,000 buildings connected to district heating networks by 2030
- A 27% reduction in car vehicle km travelled by 2030
- Fossil fuel car and van sales ended by 2030 and enforced in line with the Government’s existing commitments.
These will be challenging changes to make but the intention to deliver cleaner air for Londoners is clear.