Key information
Request reference number: MGLA070823-3665
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
- Which inner London boroughs meet the low emission target?
- Could you provide the emissions for my local area in Keston and advise where my nearest monitor is?
Our response
Pollution levels in London
The GLA regularly reports on air quality trends in London. This reporting uses data from the city’s air quality monitoring network to analyse the long term trends in pollution concentrations (the levels of pollution in the air).
The LAEI Summary Note summarises air quality trends in London for 2013, 2016 and 2019, as well as forecast trends for 2025 and 2030. As noted on page 6, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its recommended guidelines for air pollutants in 2021.
The recommended annual average concentration guideline for NO2 and PM2.5 are now 10 ug/m3 and 5 ug/m3, respectively. Pages 14-15 and 18-20 show maps of NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations across London. The explanatory text accompanying these maps shows that no area of London met the WHO guidelines for these pollutants in 2019, and no area of London is forecast to meet the WHO guidelines by 2030 under the policies included in the modelling. Page 24 of the Summary Note also highlights that all Londoners were living in areas exceeding the WHO recommended guidelines for NO2 and PM2.5 in 2019, and are forecast to continue to do so in 2025 and 2030.
The supporting data for the maps and figures in the Summary Note are available for download on the London Datastore.
Monitoring stations
London has one of the most comprehensive air quality monitoring networks of any global city and air quality is constantly monitored at over 150 locations. These sites are operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow Airport.
All data from the reference air quality monitors in London are publicly available on either the London Air or Air Quality England websites, depending on which data manager the borough subscribes to.
These websites include the monitor locations and dates they have been running, as well as all the pollution concentration data, which can be freely downloaded.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA070823-3665.