Against the backdrop of the launch of the European Commission’s 2013 ‘Year of Air’ on Tuesday 8th January and its review of key European pollution legislation, London still has the worst Nitrogen Dioxide pollution of any major city in Europe.
Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones and Green MP Caroline Lucas out campaigning for
improved air quality in London
The UK Government has stated that London will miss the 2015 European legal limits for Nitrogen Dioxide and will not meet them until about 2025.
Commenting on the news, Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones said: “The Government has ignored the fourteen air quality measures directed at them in the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Strategy. This failure to curb air pollution will result not only in even more premature deaths, heart attacks and respiratory problems, but also put London at risk of hefty EU fines”
“The Mayor has to rewrite his Air Quality Strategy and include major new measures that can make a big difference within a few years and fill the gap which the Government has created.”
Jenny has called on the Mayor to introduce a very low emission zone for central London, which would to reduce NO2 limits to below the European limit, according to a report commissioned by the City of London. She has also recommended that the mayor re-instrate the pledge that all new London buses are hybrids, drop the proposal for a Silvertown Tunnel, and stop further aviation expansion in London.
Jenny and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett have already spoken out this year against a rise in public transport fares, the 10th successive above inflation hike that Londoners have experienced.
Both Jenny and Green Assembly member Darren Johnson have also called for increased investment in cycle infrastructure the capital in order to reduce traffic. Speaking about a recent decline in cycling on the capital’s main road network, Darren said: “The Mayor of London has to question how much of this dip is due to him ignoring concerns over safety.”