Some experts say calculating the net benefits of a such an expansion can be complicated.

'No politician in history has managed to do so.' 'You're not going to please a hundred percent of people all the time,' he said. Other opponents have threatened disruptive protests.īut Khan, who was diagnosed with asthma and wrote a book this year on air pollution and climate change, says he is determined to face down his critics. Public cameras installed to enforce ULEZ have been vandalised. Less than a year away from a mayoral election, irate callers are lighting up the switchboards on the capital's radio phone-ins. Critics dispute the assessment's conclusion. He pointed to research showing the introduction of the ULEZ in 2019 caused nitrogen dioxide levels to fall by nearly half in central London, and that the assessment had overall backed an expansion. 'The independent assessment confirms that ULEZ works and the expansion will lead to 5 million more Londoners breathing cleaner air,' Khan told Reuters in an interview. Khan, who is running for a third four-year term as London's mayor, acknowledges the need for support - pointing to a 110 million pound scrappage scheme to subsidise the cost of a newer vehicle by 2,000 pounds, and a list of exemptions, including for disabled people. In Rome this month the mayor delayed plans to toughen curbs on polluting vehicles after protests from citizens groups. Simplified as an economy-versus-environment debate, the London row mirrors challenges policymakers around the world are facing, as the rapidly closing window to halt a catastrophic rise in global temperatures rubs up against the cost of action.

But like much of the data around the expansion, that has been heavily contested with some saying the true figure could be higher.Ĭristina has applied for a job in the rail sector. London's transport authority says only one in 10 cars in outer London are not ULEZ-compliant. He dismisses a scrappage scheme which could lower the cost of a replacement vehicle and says his only choice would be to pass the charge on to customers - something he believes would make him uncompetitive and cut his income in half. I simply don't have the budget,' he said, speaking to Reuters at a central London anti-ULEZ demonstration attended by hundreds. Carl Cristina, a 44-year-old tree surgeon living just outside the boundary, says it will wreck his livelihood.

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