A professor has branded the success a ‘truly remarkable turnaround for the city’s air quality’
Sir Sadiq Khan has celebrated the success of ULEZ as new Government data reveals for the first time London has met legal expectations for cleaner air. Sir Sadiq expressed his delight at this “historic milestone” for London over toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution limits.
In 2019, experts from Kings College London predicted that without further action, it would take 193 years for London to meet legal limits. However, City Hall announced that Sir Sadiq has achieved this goal in the nine years since he first became Mayor of London. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published figures on Tuesday (September 30), revealing London met air quality standards regulations for the first time in 2024, while Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool exceeded those limits.
At the end of August 2023, Sir Sadiq expanded the controversial ULEZ scheme from areas within the North and South Circular roads to cover all London boroughs, creating the world’s largest pollution charging zone. He stated: “This is incredible news. I’m thrilled that London has achieved this historic milestone of meeting the legal limits for nitrogen dioxide for the first time.
“I remember being told that it would take 193 years to reach legal limits. I decided that this was unacceptable and thanks to the bold policies we put in place, we’ve managed to do it in just nine years – 184 years early.
“This means that almost 10 million people are now breathing cleaner air, fewer children are growing up with stunted lungs and fewer people will have to suffer from asthma, dementia and heart disease, which means big savings for the NHS.
“It wasn’t always easy. When we first introduced the ULEZ and then expanded it London-wide, we faced huge pressure from different quarters who wanted to obstruct and slow us down. But pressing on was the right thing to do. It’s made an even bigger difference that we predicted. I’ll continue to work with the Government, London boroughs and partners to continue building a healthier, greener, fairer London for everyone.”
Professor Frank Kelly, from the environmental research group at Imperial College London, commented: “London’s compliance with the UK’s annual mean NO2 limit value in 2024 marks a truly remarkable turnaround for the city’s air quality. Just five years ago, research we undertook estimated it could take nearly two centuries to reach this milestone without decisive action.”
Since the mayor assumed office in 2016, roadside NO2 levels have nearly halved, according to City Hall, and he has committed to continuing the fight against air pollution in the capital through plans to electrify London’s entire bus fleet and install additional charging points for electric vehicles.
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