Expanding the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) across Greater London would be a “great” tribute to Ella Kissi-Debrah, the schoolgirl killed by toxic air, her mother said on Tuesday.
Sadiq Khan is due to decide by the end of the year whether to extend the Ulez’s current boundaries – up to the inner edge of the North and South Circular roads – across all 33 London boroughs.
In the mayor’s weekly Clear The Air podcast, Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah, mother of Ella, says that an expanded Ulez would prevent more children with asthma dying from road pollution.
She said: “Next year will be 10 years that she passed away. And it will be great, as a tribute in her memory, if the Ulez is rolled out London-wide.”
Ella, who lived in Lewisham near the South Circular Road, died aged nine in February 2013. She was the first person in the world to have air pollution recorded as a cause of death on her death certificate.
Ms Adoo Kissi-Debrah says air pollution “is the tobacco of our time” in terms of its impact on public health.
Mr Khan said Ella’s death had helped to “persuade” him of the dangers of toxic air.
He is facing a backlash from some motorists against the Ulez expansion but said: “The wonderful thing about our city is: once Londoners know the facts, they’re on side.
“There’s a silent majority who support us trying to clean up the air – once we’ve explained to them Ella’s story, the evidence, the health crisis as a consequence of air pollution.”
Asked by Mr Khan whether Ella’s death could have been prevented, Ms Adoo Kissi-Debrah says yes – and points to the decision of the then mayor Boris Johnson to delay the expansion of the low emission zone, the precursor to the Ulez, for two years.
She said: “We would never know, if that was introduced, whether it could save her. Why do I say that? Because now we know when you [Mr Khan] introduced the [ultra] low emission zone, it removes filthy dirty vehicles off the road.”
There are plans to erect a statue in memory of Ella next year in Lewisham, in a meadow that she used to walk through on her way to school. The statue will be made of material able to absorb toxic emissions.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive at the health charity Asthma + Lung UK, said more than half the people with asthma they had surveyed said polluted air triggered their symptoms. It estimates that almost 350,000 people with a lung condition will benefit from a Londonwide Ulez.
Ms Woolnough said: “Almost 10 years since Ella’s death, London’s children are still being forced to grow up breathing in air so dirty and polluted that it can stunt their lung growth, trigger asthma attacks and worsen other existing lung conditions.
“If we’re going to stop another generation of Londoners growing up breathing in potentially lethal levels of air pollution, then we need to see more action being taken. The Ulez expansion is a crucial part of this.”
