That’s the recommendations from the London Assembly Environment Committee as it publishes a new report.

Official estimates suggest that over 3,000 deaths each year in London are attributable to air pollution and in April this year the Supreme Court ordered the Government to take immediate action to tackle the dangerously high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) found in the UK.

In response, the London Assembly Environment Committee’s report on- ‘Driving away from diesel: Reducing air pollution from diesel vehicles’ makes recommendations including:

The Mayor should introduce the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) before 2020 and the zone should be wider and stronger.

The Government should take forward the Mayor’s proposal for a scrappage scheme linked to replacing non-compliant vehicles with low-emission vehicles.

The Mayor should set out – following consultation with the taxi industry – how zero-emission capable taxis will be available from 2018 and how the necessary infrastructure (rapid charging network and/or hydrogen stations) will be delivered.

The Mayor should work closely with the boroughs and national government to show how the whole of London could achieve compliance with European air pollution limits by 2020.  

Environment Committee Member, Stephen Knight AM, said: “The Committee has been pushing for NO2 compliance for some time now but following the judgment from the Supreme Court in April, the Government is now obliged to act by law. We urge the Mayor and the Government to take our recommendations on board and we call on the Mayor to finally take ownership of the matter in order to help London’s air quality meet legal limits.

As petrol engines become cleaner with time it’s becoming clear that diesel emissions are a large part of the problem, so our report addresses this issue specifically.”

To read the report, click here.