Berliner Boersenzeitung - Clean streets vs business woes: pollution charge divides Londoners

EUR -
AED 4.178094
AFN 80.660838
ALL 98.620985
AMD 442.81052
ANG 2.050119
AOA 1037.406639
ARS 1323.548457
AUD 1.782369
AWG 2.047514
AZN 1.936072
BAM 1.953658
BBD 2.295063
BDT 138.107337
BGN 1.953169
BHD 0.428707
BIF 3380.393055
BMD 1.137508
BND 1.490752
BOB 7.854387
BRL 6.46036
BSD 1.136644
BTN 96.94284
BWP 15.560799
BYN 3.719988
BYR 22295.149099
BZD 2.283276
CAD 1.576574
CDF 3272.609072
CHF 0.939342
CLF 0.027909
CLP 1070.974491
CNY 8.289035
CNH 8.293358
COP 4893.842103
CRC 572.966647
CUC 1.137508
CUP 30.143952
CVE 110.144216
CZK 24.975123
DJF 202.41625
DKK 7.465351
DOP 67.455435
DZD 150.530901
EGP 57.967725
ERN 17.062614
ETB 151.48415
FJD 2.567807
FKP 0.858034
GBP 0.854877
GEL 3.117175
GGP 0.858034
GHS 17.221115
GIP 0.858034
GMD 81.330736
GNF 9843.119485
GTQ 8.754323
GYD 237.817119
HKD 8.825364
HNL 29.468426
HRK 7.533257
HTG 148.505843
HUF 407.262067
IDR 19165.353793
ILS 4.147654
IMP 0.858034
INR 97.060794
IQD 1489.05401
IRR 47903.288019
ISK 144.895596
JEP 0.858034
JMD 180.062543
JOD 0.806724
JPY 162.126117
KES 147.091207
KGS 99.324201
KHR 4549.970495
KMF 494.24449
KPW 1023.692616
KRW 1632.653167
KWD 0.348669
KYD 0.947253
KZT 587.420669
LAK 24581.827421
LBP 101848.612626
LKR 340.953113
LRD 227.338701
LSL 21.212452
LTL 3.358764
LVL 0.688067
LYD 6.220179
MAD 10.542746
MDL 19.636294
MGA 5115.345533
MKD 61.465435
MMK 2387.74812
MNT 4030.323332
MOP 9.083459
MRU 45.036217
MUR 51.531147
MVR 17.523332
MWK 1971.021247
MXN 22.283194
MYR 4.974301
MZN 72.800375
NAD 21.212452
NGN 1833.002813
NIO 41.833757
NOK 11.83058
NPR 155.109906
NZD 1.902521
OMR 0.437964
PAB 1.136644
PEN 4.194963
PGK 4.704799
PHP 64.217422
PKR 319.496131
PLN 4.275141
PYG 9097.943198
QAR 4.14352
RON 4.976825
RSD 117.090569
RUB 94.233029
RWF 1623.20572
SAR 4.266897
SBD 9.483381
SCR 16.208892
SDG 683.071875
SEK 10.911303
SGD 1.492228
SHP 0.893902
SLE 25.877833
SLL 23852.947296
SOS 649.581957
SRD 41.917193
STD 23544.110848
SVC 9.946093
SYP 14790.043117
SZL 21.202749
THB 38.038825
TJS 12.07735
TMT 3.992652
TND 3.393279
TOP 2.664159
TRY 43.582478
TTD 7.712542
TWD 36.985836
TZS 3059.895608
UAH 47.394411
UGX 4167.393393
USD 1.137508
UYU 47.677298
UZS 14639.817249
VES 94.767943
VND 29637.760703
VUV 136.272965
WST 3.153487
XAF 655.23271
XAG 0.033986
XAU 0.000341
XCD 3.074171
XDR 0.818078
XOF 655.23271
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.973029
ZAR 21.289302
ZMK 10238.937064
ZMW 31.969661
ZWL 366.276985
  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.53

    +0.32%

  • CMSC

    0.1900

    22.35

    +0.85%

  • BCC

    1.5450

    94.875

    +1.63%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    9.83

    +0.81%

  • RIO

    1.0600

    61.26

    +1.73%

  • BTI

    -0.0500

    42.46

    -0.12%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    21.99

    -1.05%

  • NGG

    0.4500

    72.16

    +0.62%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • GSK

    0.2850

    37.315

    +0.76%

  • CMSD

    0.1700

    22.46

    +0.76%

  • RYCEF

    0.3000

    9.8

    +3.06%

  • AZN

    0.8900

    69.4

    +1.28%

  • RELX

    0.1580

    52.858

    +0.3%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    9.28

    -0.22%

  • BP

    0.2650

    28.865

    +0.92%

Clean streets vs business woes: pollution charge divides Londoners
Clean streets vs business woes: pollution charge divides Londoners / Photo: Justin TALLIS - AFP

Clean streets vs business woes: pollution charge divides Londoners

For Londoner Beau Boka-Batesa, air quality has drastically improved in the British capital following the rollout and expansion of a contested car pollution toll two years ago.

Text size:

Now, Boka-Batesa, 21, feels like they can walk down a high street and "not cough as much".

"It's so much more evident that things aren't as bad as they used to be," said Boka-Batesa, who co-founded the "Choked Up" campaign group for young, ethnic minority Londoners living in areas of high pollution.

As French lawmakers debate doing away with their version of a low-emissions zone on Tuesday, UK researchers and campaigners have hailed the effectiveness of the toll in improving London's air quality.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) -- the world's largest pollution charging scheme -- was implemented in central London in 2019, before expanding to Greater London's nine million residents in 2023.

It requires motorists to switch to low-emission vehicles or face a daily charge of £12.50 ($15.90, 14.60 euros) for driving a polluting car within the zone.

Its expansion saw fierce opposition from outer London residents, with local councils launching unsuccessful legal challenges and hundreds of ULEZ cameras vandalised by disgruntled residents.

While many Londoners are still holding out against the policy championed by Mayor Sadiq Khan, others are resigned or have even come around to its benefits.

A study published by Khan's government last month showed a significant drop in air pollution compared to a scenario without ULEZ, including 27 percent lower levels of toxic NO2 gas emitted from vehicle exhausts across London.

And nearly 97 percent of London vehicles were compliant with low emissions standards as of September 2024, compared to just 39 percent in 2017.

- 'Kills businesses' -

But according to music business owner Roger Tichborne, some polluting car owners are simply being shut out of the capital, with residents on the outer edges avoiding coming into London.

Since ULEZ was expanded to his Mill Hill neighbourhood in northwest London in 2023, his studio business has seen a 15-20 percent drop in bands coming from outside the zone to use his rehearsal space.

"They've just stopped coming because it's too expensive," Tichborne, 62, told AFP, adding his adjoining music shop had taken a 30 percent cut in business.

Like many outer London residents, Tichborne has also resorted to measures like taking longer detours in his Ford Galaxy diesel car to avoid ULEZ cameras and charges.

Alongside ULEZ, Khan had introduced a "scrappage" scheme providing financial support for replacing non-compliant cars, however, Tichborne said changing cars was still too expensive.

The music studio owner accused Khan of providing insufficient help for small businesses and musicians -- many of whom rely on older, polluting vans to transport their equipment.

"When you design measures that are going to affect large amounts of the population, you have to do it in a way that you don't kill businesses," he said.

"My issue with it is not the fact that the air is cleaner. My issue with it is the fact that it's badly implemented."

While he is still opposed to the scheme, Tichborne conceded that "people in London have, by and large, changed their cars or learnt to live with it".

- Effective tool -

For Boka-Batesa, "transparency and open communication" were necessary to "ensure that people's needs are at the forefront of it all".

According to another study into the impacts of ULEZ on children's health published in March, the scheme had the capacity to "both narrow and exacerbate inequities".

While some outer London families struggled to replace cars or switch to public transport, the report found that more primary school students were choosing "active" modes of travelling to school, such as cycling and walking.

"Introducing a clean air zone, in particular ULEZ, has wider societal benefits," said Christopher Griffiths, senior author and professor at London's Queen Mary University.

"It goes beyond just cleaning the air, it's about how we live."

Respondents from deprived areas who reported living in the most polluted parts of central London experienced the "greatest impact of reduced pollution levels", according to the study.

The "data is clear that the ULEZ has delivered a massive improvement in air quality beyond what was expected or predicted", Griffiths said.

According to the researcher, ULEZ, France's under-threat "Zones a Faibles Emissions" (ZFE) -- and over 300 similar "clean air schemes" across Europe -- are vital solutions.

"They're the one public health tool that we have that is being shown to be effective."

(H.Schneide--BBZ)