Clean air coalition calls on would-be councillors to commit to reducing driving in London

A coalition of more than twenty campaigning groups is calling on candidates in next month's council elections to commit to taking steps to reduce the number of miles driven by diesel and petrol cars in London in order to improve air quality, reduce deaths and injuries and increase physical activity

The call by the Clean Cities Campaign sets out its aims as follows:

"London boroughs house more than 2.6 million diesel and petrol cars, fuelling the climate crisis, threatening our health, and taking up valuable space. All candidates in the local elections must commit to help constituents to be less dependent on their cars and take an immediate stand against dirty diesel."

The campaign points to evidence that Londoners, especially those from marginalised and vulnerable communities. are severely impacted by:

• Dirty air, causing lifelong health conditions and thousands of preventable early deaths every year
• Dangerous roads, killing or seriously injuring 10 people every day
• Damaging inactivity – less than half of children and young people meet recommended physical activity levels.

They say that simply changing over to electric cars will not be enough for London to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030 - car mileage needs to be reduced by at least 27 per cent.

The Clean Air Campaign calls on every candidate in the London local elections to pledge to:

• Phase out polluting cars as soon as possible, especially diesel
• Reallocate public space for walking, cycling, parklets and greenery
• Give buses more priority and support shared mobility, such as car clubs
• Back a single Clean Air & Climate Cabinet Member for their borough.

Diesel cars in London cause three times as much pollution as trucks and lorries

A press release issued by Clean Cities reveals that its research shows that pollution from diesel cars alone is estimated to be three times worse than that from heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) across London. The latest official data shows that diesel cars contribute 5,717 tonnes of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions compared to just 1,808 tonnes from HGVs. This has shifted over six years: 2013 data showed that HGVs emitted a similar level of NOx emissions as diesel cars (5,818 tonnes vs 5,727 tonnes).

The same data reveals the share of harmful NOx emissions from diesel and petrol cars has also risen in every London borough (excluding City of London) – up by 26 per cent between 2013 and 2019.