Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones calls for the Mayor to “rewrite his Air Quality Strategy”, as the annual legal limit for the harmful Nitrogen Dioxide is breached by the 9th of January.
Pollution in Oxford Street, Europe’s busiest shopping street, already breaches the annual legal limit. Photograph courtesy of Ysangkok.
Readings taken at the Oxford Street air quality monitoring station have shown that it is the first location in London to breach annual legal limits for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) 1. NO2 is deemed to be harmful to human health and the EU permits an annual limit of no more than 18 hours per annum at the concentration of >200ug/m3. By yesterday, (9th January) Oxford Street had exceeded this annual limit by 11 hours.
The Oxford Street air monitoring station is one of a hundred Air Quality Network stations located across London.
Jenny Jones said: “Oxford Street is a disgraceful example of the Government and Mayor’s failure to take responsibility for air pollution. As a result even more people will die prematurely, suffer worse asthma and other respiratory conditions”
“Instead of attempting to delay legal deadlines for nitrogen dioxide, the Mayor has to rewrite his Air Quality Strategy and include effective new measures that can make a big difference to fill the gap.”
Jenny’s recommendations to the Mayor also include:
· Re-instate the pledge that all new London buses are hybrids from next year
· Increase the pace of traffic reduction in London by lowering fares and investing in cycling facilities
· Bring forward the Mayor’s planned Ultra Low Emission Zone for central London in 2020, which could allow only the cleanest vehicles into central London.