Sadiq Khan joins Paris mayor in plea to cut pollution

Working together: Sadiq Khan and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo

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Nicholas Cecil, Political Editor @nicholascecil

1 June 2016

Sadiq Khan today issued a joint appeal with the mayor of Paris for EU chiefs not to water down toxic air limits and risk killing 16,000 more people a year.

The Mayor of London and Anne Hidalgo wrote to Sharon Dijksma, president of the European Union’s Environment Council, calling for tough and legally binding targets under the new National Emissions Ceiling Directive, which is being finalised. They stressed that there is a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to proactively address Europe’s air quality crisis with a new set of national “ceilings” for pollutants.

“Across the Continent the equivalent of 400,000 people die each year as a result of long-term exposure to air pollution,” their letter said. “Estimations by the European Commission suggest that weaker national emissions ceilings would lead to about 16,000 extra deaths in the EU every year. This is not acceptable and we require our governments to follow the bold lead taken by our cities in tackling this issue.”

The pair called for binding targets for both 2025 and 2030 for the directive, which covers pollutants including nitrogen oxides and PM2.5 particulates.

Current testing proposals would let vehicle nitrogen oxides emissions significantly exceed agreed emissions limits until 2020, they said, and also emphasised that measures taken in London and Paris, including banning the most polluting vehicles from some areas, risked being undermined by “inaction” at the European level.

Alan Andrews, of environmental lawyers ClientEarth, added: “Even if the mayors of London and Paris have the best air pollution policies in the world, without action to match that from the UK and other EU governments, people in these two great cities will still be choking on dangerous levels of air pollution for years to come.”

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the automotive industry was continually improving the emissions performance of vehicles, with billions invested in new technologies. “There is no proposed relaxation of standards, added a spokeswoman. “On the contrary, the rules get much tougher from next year with the requirement — for the first time — of on-road, ‘real world’ testing.”

A government spokesman said: “Tackling air pollution is a priority for this government and we are working with EU partners to agree ambitious and fair emission limits for key air pollutants from 2030.”

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Sadiq Khan joins Paris mayor in plea to cut pollution

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