Siân Berry, Mayor of London candidate from the Green Party, has led a united call by the four main Mayor contenders to meet EU standards for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) pollution by 2012. But scepticism continues over whether any of the other parties can be trusted to take the necessary steps to protect health.
"Radical action to improve air quality in London is possible and, as Mayor, I will make this a high priority for our city. Every Londoner, every athlete and every visitor to London deserves the chance to breathe clean air in 2012."
Siân says, "In 2012, London will be inviting the world’s greatest athletes into our city. The staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London offers us a tremendous opportunity to ensure our air quality meets European and World Health Organisation standards in time for these athletes to compete in a healthy atmosphere. This is not only a requirement under UK and EU law but a moral obligation as well.
"I welcome the words of support for the Campaign for Clean Air in London from the other Mayor candidates, but I’m concerned that words might be all we get from them. It is Ken Livingstone’s delays that have put London on track for illegally high air pollution. Boris Johnson has pledged to hike pollution by scrapping the planned £25 c-charge for Chelsea Tractors. And Brian Paddick has said he would shelve the new Low Emissions Zone scheme.
By contrast, I have consistently supported the measures needed to protect our health. The Olympics will come and go, but those who breathe London air every day are suffering every moment we delay and fudge on this issue. We have a right to expect that these standards will be met at the earliest possible date.
Simon Birkett, spokesman for the Campaign for Clean Air in London, said in a letter to the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell MP: Siân Berry was the first politician to support the Campaign for Clean Air in London. In the last two years, Sian has encouraged and advised the Campaign along with other Green Party colleagues in London and Brussels both to defend existing environmental protections in a new European Union air quality Directive and to press for urgent action to deliver clean air in London. Siân Berry’s Green credentials are impeccable."