<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/07/london-air-pollution-down-since-ulez-expansion-study>
"People in London have been breathing significantly cleaner air since the
expansion of the ultra low emission zone (Ulez), a study has found.
Levels of deadly pollutants that are linked to a wide range of health problems
– from cancer to impaired lung development, heart attacks to premature births –
have dropped, with some of the biggest improvements coming in the capital’s
most deprived areas.
Sadiq Khan had faced severe opposition to the 2023 expansion of Ulez to outer
London boroughs. But on Friday as the report was published, the mayor of London
said the scheme had driven down pollution, taken old polluting cars off the
roads and brought cleaner air to millions more people.
He said: “When I was first elected, evidence showed it would take 193 years to
bring London’s air pollution within legal limits if the current efforts
continued. However, due to our transformative policies we are now close to
achieving it this year.”
Several outer London councils mounted unsuccessful legal challenges to the Ulez
rollout, and Keir Starmer blamed it for Labour’s defeat in the Ruislip and
Uxbridge byelection and called for Khan to “reflect” on his plans.
But Friday’s report, published by the Greater London Authority with findings
extensively reviewed by an independent advisory group of experts, said Ulez had
had a positive impact and that London’s air quality had improved across the
board and at a faster rate than that of the rest of the country.
The report covers the first year since the zone’s expansion and is the fullest
analysis of its impact yet conducted."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
