ADD2839 Air and Noise Pollution Mitigation Through Integrated, Society‑Centred Actions (ATMOPOLIS)

1.1.    The Cleaning London’s Air Delivery Plan sets out four work strands. The third of these is “working with London boroughs and other partners to take effective action to reduce exposure and emissions”. 

1.2.    The GLA is participating in a Horizon Europe research project, under the Zero-Pollution Cities call. The project, Air and Noise Pollution Mitigation Through Integrated, Society‑Centred Actions (ATMOPOLIS), began in January 2026. It focuses on developing integrated, community-centred approaches to reduce air and noise pollution in urban environments.

1.3.    ATMOPOLIS will create a wide-ranging framework to assess human exposure to air and noise pollution; and the health impacts that come from it. It will use interdisciplinary, multi-scale approaches to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies. These strategies will be human-centred, and scalable across European cities. The project will look for ambitious pathways to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while reducing the impacts on public health and the environment.

1.4.    The research is being co-developed with a diverse group of European cities: London, Łódź, Sarajevo, Podgorica and Tampere. This ensures that findings reflect a wide range of social, political, environmental and health contexts. This approach enables a holistic understanding of emissions and exposure challenges across complex urban systems.

1.5.    ATMOPOLIS will support the transition to the Zero-Pollution Cities objective by delivering an evidence-based, integrated decision-making tool for policymakers. It will also provide data, methods and insights to support community engagement, empowerment and behaviour change. Together, these outputs will strengthen the evidence base; and translate knowledge into practical action to improve the urban environment.

1.6.    Mayoral Decision 3400 (paragraph 1.18) delegates Mayoral powers to the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) to take spending  decisions on projects that fall under specified criteria. One of these is “provision of leadership and work with other cities and organisations within the UK, mainland Europe and further afield to build stakeholder support for further action to reduce pollution”.

1.7.    The outputs from ATMOPOLIS are not included in the Cleaning London’s Air Delivery Plan. As such, this decision seeks approval to update the delivery plan to include ATMOPOLIS as a new project with relevant success measure and milestone. This project will sit under the third work strand: “Working with London boroughs, and other partners, to take effective action to reduce exposure and emissions.”

Project 3.3: Delivery of ATMOPOLIS

1.8.    This project will contribute to the development and testing of an integrated framework to assess human exposure to air and noise pollution, and related health impacts. It involves supporting interdisciplinary research to identify scalable, human-centred mitigation and adaptation strategies that reduce pollution, GHG emissions and associated public health risks. Delivery will be led in partnership with 11 organisations, including universities and community groups, across five European cities.

1.9.    The success measure for this will be that an evidence-based, decision-making tool is produced; this will support policymakers in addressing the combined impacts of air and noise pollution.

1.10.    The milestone for this will be delivery of a city-level decision-making tool for air and noise pollution.

1.11.    This decision also seeks approval to receive up to £90,000 from Horizon Europe. This will be allocated to the Air Quality revenue budgets.
 

2.1.    The three strategic objectives of this project are to:

•    improve the methods and estimates of population-level air and noise pollution, and GHG emissions, under current and future abatement scenarios, and measured individual and community exposures

•    better understand noise and air pollution at human and society levels – including how it affects everyone’s health; and people’s perceptions of it, and willingness to change their behaviour

•    develop evidence-driven tools to support top-down (cities and regions) and bottom-up (individuals and communities) action to reduce air and noise pollution and GHG emissions. 

2.2.    Specifically, the outcomes of the project will provide: 

•    new ways to monitor and assess exposure 

•    integrated air/noise health impact assessments 

•    policy ready evidence to support city interventions 

•    scalable tools, including the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) prototype for London

•    a London case study, applying ATMOPOLIS’s exposure-assessment tools and evidence to community engagement and local government partnerships.
 

3.1.    The GLA and other public authorities must have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. This involves: 

•    having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic
•    taking steps to meet the different needs of such people
•    encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.

3.2.    The protected characteristics and groups are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and marriage/civil partnership status. Compliance with the Equality Act 2010 may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one. The duty must be exercised with an open mind, and at the time a decision is taken in the exercise of the GLA’s functions. Conscientious regard must be had that is appropriate in all circumstances.

3.3.    In June 2023, the GLA published updated analysis on exposure to air pollution. This showed not only that there are huge health impacts of pollution, but also that these fall disproportionately on: 

•    the most vulnerable Londoners
•    people who are more deprived
•    Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

 
It also established that those who contribute the least to poor air quality suffer the most from it. This means that improving air quality is fundamentally about tackling social injustice and health inequalities. 
 

Risks and issues

4.1.    The key risks and issues, and their mitigating actions, are outlined in the table below:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2.    This initiative directly contributes to the Cleaning London’s Air programme under the third work strand: “Working with London boroughs, and other partners, to take effective action to reduce exposure and emissions.”

4.3.    It will also contribute to delivering the Mayor’s London Environment Strategy, and the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. This is detailed at sections 4.4 to 4.6, below. 

4.4.    London Environment Strategy Policy 4.2.5 states:

“The Mayor will work with other cities (here and internationally), global city and industry networks to share best practice, lead action and support evidence-based steps to improve air quality.”

4.5.    The Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy sets out how he will work to create a fairer, more equal, integrated city where all people feel welcome and able to fulfil their potential.

4.6.    Objective 4 of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is to:

“improve Londoners’ air quality and access to green space and lower the city’s carbon emissions so that inequalities in exposure to harmful pollution and climate risks are reduced.”

Conflicts of interest

4.7.    There are no known conflicts to declare regarding those involved in the drafting or clearance of this form.

5.1.    This decision requests approval to receive up to £90,000, between 2026-27 and 2029-30. This is to be allocated to the Air Quality revenue budget, as reimbursement for participation in ATMOPOLIS. This will be incorporated into the Cleaning London’s Air strategic delivery plan.

5.2.    Future years’ budgets will remain subject to the annual budget-setting process. Any changes in the anticipated spend profile across the project years will be reflected as updates during the budget-setting process.

5.3.    All budget adjustments will be made.
 

6.1.    The project will be delivered according to the following timetable: