The Mayor of London has outlined proposals to create an ultra low emission zone in central London. This was first proposed by the London Assembly in 2009 and has been put to the Mayor on several occasions. London has been in breach of the European legal limits for NO2 since 2010.

The Mayor’s announcement also includes dropping Euro 4 Low Emission Zone standards for HGVs and coaches in 2015. There is also no mention of all new taxi being electric from 2020, which is contained in his Air Quality Strategy.

Responding to the news Jenny Jones, Assembly Member said:

"This is excellent news for Londoners' health, but leaving it as a project for the next Mayor to deliver is a way of ducking responsibility for the problems we're facing now. We have argued for years that the Mayor’s list of little measures is inadequate and that an ultra low emission zone was essential. It's already too late for our breaking the European legal limits, but if we are to clean up London's dirty air we need this zone now, with a zero emission target. I urge the Mayor to be brave, drop his planned backward steps on the 2015 measures and make the big changes happen by the end of this year."

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