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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Fiona Harvey Environment editor

London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?

A Ulez sign with a blur of passing traffic including a London bus behind it
Vehicles pass by a sign indicating the new boundary of the LEZ and ULEZ expansion on August 29, 2023 in London, UK. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Ten years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.

“I had to get to UCLH [one of London’s major hospitals]. My own child was headed there in a blue-lit ambulance because she was struggling to breathe London’s toxic air.”

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