Clean Air for all Londoners

• All Londoners live in areas above the newly recommended WHO guideline of 5µgm-3. Nowhere in London meets the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended annual average guideline target for NO2 of 10µgm-3.
• Evidence shows that toxic air pollution can significantly reduce lung capacity in children, by as much as five per cent.
• New analysis shows that the capital’s poor air quality led to over 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions between 2017-2019. Over the same period, air pollution was responsible for seven per cent of all asthma admissions of children.
• Evidence also shows how improved air quality has reduced the number of people admitted to hospital for these diseases by 30 per cent.

The London Assembly Environment Committee has published ‘Clean Air for all Londoners’ - a report on air pollution in the capital. The report makes a number of recommendations to the Mayor of London to tackle the city’s air pollution, including:

• Strengthen monitoring of pollution from London’s red routes and incorporate new monitoring of air quality emissions for the Silvertown Tunnel project. A regular report should be produced on the changes in pollution on London’s main roads.
• Consider how to support Londoners concerned about air pollution in local areas with access to new, live pollution monitoring, especially particulate matter and nitrogen oxides such as that supported by the Breathe London Network.
• Set out how parking policies from TfL, the boroughs and measures such as the Workplace Parking Levy can reduce car use in a fair way that considers people with disabilities and those that live in areas with less public transport.
• Continue measures that enable more active travel and sustainable transport options, particularly walking and cycling.
• Publish an evaluation of the impact of scrappage schemes to date in shifting Londoners’ behaviour.
• Review the timeline of Zero Emission Zones, as they are set to come in by 2025 and incorporate these zones as part of the overall picture for reducing emissions.
• Call on the Government for further powers to support a specific target for the reduction of domestic wood burning in London and provide annual statistics on domestic wood burning to enable closer and more frequent monitoring of progress.
• Call for further powers to regulate Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) via a user-charging scheme akin to the ULEZ with penalties for non-compliant plant and machinery.
• Lobby government for requirements on developers of construction sites to conduct detailed air quality monitoring.
• Consider a badge scheme to approve and identify businesses that are supporting cleaner air and who are embracing zero or low emission practices.