The extension of the ultra-low emission zone from London to Greater London began on Tuesday. London Mayor Sadiq Khan came under intense pressure to delay or stop the task, but he stood firm. You are not alone; Urban political leaders around the world have taken similar measures on air quality, although the London project is now the most important.
The expanded ULEZ covers the car-dense suburbs on the outskirts of London. The initial allocation was raised in 2015, when Boris Johnson, a Conservative, was mayor of London. Subsequently, he brought in Labour politician Khan in April 2019, only covering central London. Khan extended it to surrounding districts in October 2021 by expanding the price zone to cover the domain between the northern and southern ring roads.
Khan announced last November that ULEZ would expand again on August 29, 2023 to cover all London boroughs. His ruling is subject to judicial review through five Conservative-led councils, but the High Court dismissed his case in July.
There is a payment of $15. 75 per day to enter the emissions zone with a non-compliant motor vehicle. To comply, petrol cars and small vans will have to comply with the Euro 4 vehicle emissions standard (those registered from 1 January 2006), and diesel cars and small vans will have to comply with the popular Euro 6 standard (cars registered from 1 January 2006). The Euro 4 standard for petrol vehicles limits nitrogen oxide emissions to 80,000 micrograms per kilometre (μg/km). The Euro 6 standard for diesel vehicles limits nitrogen oxide emissions to a maximum of 80,000 μg/km and particulate emissions to a maximum of 5,000 μg/km.
Transport for London estimates that 90% of motor cars in Greater London already meet the standards.
ULEZ is implemented with static and mobile license plate cameras (ANPR). Some static cameras were attacked by vigilantes posing as “blade runners”.
ULEZ fares in London appear moderate compared to fares implemented in cities like Glasgow and Paris, where fines are higher.
Since June, Glasgow has imposed a low-emission zone within the city centre, and drivers who enter with substandard cars face imaginable fines of $75 once the scheme has lasted several months.
The French Air Quality Law (CRIT’Air) for Paris, enacted in 2017, applies to all spaces within the ring road, and car drivers who fail to comply face on-site fines of up to $146.
People protest against the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) outside Downing Street on August 29, 2023 in London, England (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images).
Other cities with low-emission zones are Madrid, in operation since 2022, and Milan, which has a weekly schedule only, in addition to Oslo, Stockholm, Athens, Beijing and Mexico City.
In other parts of the UK, there are also outdoor areas, for different fees, in Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol and Portsmouth. Polluting buses, coaches and trucks have to pay $126 to enter Bristol.
The Tyneside blank air zone implemented in January does not yet apply to personal motorists.
The Greater Manchester allocation was withdrawn at considerable cost in February 2022 after the domain’s mayor, Andy Burnham, was chilling. It will most likely be reintroduced once existing court cases over London’s dominance have subsided.
These court cases were broadcast at a 250-person protest against the ULEZ expansion held outdoors at 10 Downing Street on 29 August. The posters warned of the anticipated risks of “15-minute cities,” a trope typical of some conspirators opposed to the concept. to design living within walking distance of shops, cafes, schools, theatres and swimming pools. ULEZ is also believed to be a form of “climate containment. “(Some conflicting parties to ULEZ also deny climate change lifestyles. )
Opponents also claim that low-income people are excluded from motor vehicles, despite a generous scrapping subsidy of $2,542 per car taken off the road and scrapped; There are many compatible cars that can be purchased for less than $2,500.
A protester holds a sign that reads a message from climate skeptics at a rally to protest climate skeptics. [ ] The expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone at Marble Arch, central London, on 25 June 2023. (Photo via HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP) (Photo via HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP Getty Images)
Part IV of the Environment Act requires UK local government to review and assess the air quality in its spaces in opposition to the limits set through the Air Quality Standards Regulators 2010. Since 2017, the UK government has used its powers under the Environment Act. Order many local governments to develop plans for blank air.
According to the UK government, poor air quality is “the greatest environmental threat to public health in the UK”.
In January, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, adding recent advances in air quality in the UK. It included two sets of long-term legal targets for PM2. 5, created through the Environment Act, to be met until the end of 2040. This is a maximum annual average concentration target of 10 μg/m3 or less and a 35% relief in population exposure compared to 2018 levels.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan meets with air pollutant campaigner Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, whose 9-year-old daughter, Ella Roberta, died after a series of asthma attacks linked to air pollutants, a stopover at Forest Hill School in south London a stopover announcing plans to extend an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the boundaries of Greater London. Photo date: Friday, March 4, 2022. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Defra paper noted that “the concentration target will be maximally complicated in the south-east [of England] (as that is where the greatest amount of pollutants from other countries are found) and in London and other urban spaces (because that is where the greatest amounts of pollutants are). British pollutants are produced).
The UK government recently lost several lawsuits filed through environmental law organisation ClientEarth, in which it found that it had breached legal air quality limits.
A report published by the Mayor of London two years ago concluded that in 2019, “communities with higher levels of deprivation, or a higher proportion of people from non-white ethnic backgrounds, were more likely to be exposed to higher levels of environmental pollution. “air pollution. “
Mayor Khan said the ULEZ issue is a “matter of social justice and racial justice. “
Article updated on August 30, 2023, with more data on ULEZ compliance in motor vehicles in London.