When I first stood to be Mayor, I vowed to transform London into one of the greenest cities on the planet. I’m hugely proud of how far we’ve come, but the truth is, I never used to be particularly ‘green’.
Back when I worked for a law firm, I used to drive my gas-guzzling 4x4 to our central London office. As an MP, I voted for a new third runway at Heathrow.
It’s fair to say that I’ve been on a journey when it comes to the importance of tackling air pollution and the climate crisis. The story behind that transition is the basis of my first and newly released book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency.
After I had completed the London marathon in 2014, and as I got more and more into running, I found myself wheezing and struggling to breathe. When I went to see my GP, I was diagnosed with adult-onset asthma at 43 years old.
I was in disbelief at the time. But my doctor explained that it wasn’t uncommon and that I had almost certainly developed it from the air I was breathing while training on London’s roads. Having an asthma attack is scary but thankfully, my condition is under control.
I can’t imagine how terrifying it must be for a child, which leads me to the story of Ella Roberta Adoo-Kissi-Debrah.
Like me, Ella was born in South London. She was a bright, talented girl who dreamed of becoming a pilot. Just before her seventh birthday, Ella began to develop a cough and her health declined rapidly. She was eventually diagnosed with a severe form of asthma which caused her to faint, have seizures, and ultimately resulted in her lungs collapsing. Several visits to intensive care followed. Then tragically, on February 15, 2013, Ella died in hospital. She was nine years old.
Eight long years after Ella’s death – and following a mammoth campaign led by her inspirational mother, Rosamund – a coroner concluded that toxic air had contributed to the condition that claimed her life. It was a landmark moment. Ella became the first person in the UK to have ‘air pollution’ listed as a cause of death.
According to the Government, air pollution is now linked to between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year in the UK. In London, it’s around 4,000 per year. Toxic air is damaging people’s health from pre-birth, to retirement and every stage of life in between. Study after study shows the extensive catalogue of dire health consequences from air pollution includes low birth weight, reduced sperm count, cancer and dementia. Moreover, we know the poorest people – who are least likely to own a car – are being hit the hardest.
A public health scandal on this scale demands action. Our response in London has come in the form of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The aim of our flagship air quality policy is to target the most polluting vehicles and get them off the roads for the benefit of everyone.
ULEZ has turned out to be transformational. We have now cut toxic nitrogen dioxide levels by nearly half in central London, enabled four million Londoners to breathe cleaner air and seen a reduction in the number of children admitted to hospital with asthma by a third.
With ULEZ proven to work, and with air pollution exceeding safe limits in every single borough in outer London, it is only right that we expand the scheme to ensure five million more Londoners can benefit. Due to the progress made under my mayoralty, nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London are already ULEZ compliant and won’t have to pay a penny. Any net revenue raised will be reinvested back into our public transport network, including the biggest ever expansion of bus services in outer London.
Expanding ULEZ has weighed heavily on my mind and I completely understand the concerns people have about what it could mean for them. That’s why I implemented a £110m scrappage and retrofit scheme to help families on lower incomes, small businesses, charities and disabled Londoners to buy cleaner vehicles, retrofit their vans or switch to greener options. And only yesterday, we announced further assistance. All families in receipt of Child Benefit now qualify for the scrappage scheme, and we’re extending support for charities and small businesses.
I know that not everyone agrees with ULEZ, but it is a policy based on principle and backed up by science. Make no mistake, air pollution is one of the worst health scandals of our time – a travesty on a par with the harm caused by tobacco. And just like the public health measures introduced to protect people from smoking, I’m confident that expanding ULEZ London-wide will be remembered as being the right thing to have done.
Ella’s short life reminds us why tackling air pollution matters. No one should have their health destroyed or lose their life because of the air they breathe. Our campaign to clean London’s air means we’re closer to making sure they don’t.
