The Mayor of London has called on city leaders in both England and Wales to join him in his efforts to lobby the government to prohibit the sale of new pure diesel and petrol cars by 2030.
The bipartisan leaders represent around 20m people from towns and cities all over the United Kingdom and London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for them to unite in an effort to urge the government to being forward its current plans to phase out the vehicles from 2040 to 2030 in a bid to address the nation's alarming air quality crisis.
The issues will be explored in more detail on Wednesday at a national air quality summit which has been organized by the Mayor of London. The UK100 the UK100 network of local government leaders and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The summit will see city leaders - Members of Parliament and the Environment Secretary Michael Gove examine and discuss plans to improve the country's air quality.
The Mayor of London said that air pollution in the UK was killing its citizens and stressed how critically important it was to introduce new legislation.
Khan said, "Air pollution is not an isolated problem. It's a national health crisis. Our country's filthy air is shortening lives, damaging lungs, and severely impacting on the NHS. That's why we're bringing together city leaders from across England and Wales to put this at the top of the agenda. We have to take bold action, but while we're all doing what we can, we need government support to do even more. Banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, providing support to deliver Clean Air Zones in cities and introducing a national vehicle renewal scheme will dramatically improve our air quality and our health."
The leaders - including mayors and city leaders covering Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Greater Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton and the West Midlands - will say that they want to play their part in an ambitious national plan for clean air that prioritizes action to reduce road transport emissions, provides new powers to tackle other sources of pollution and creates a framework to support partnerships between local, regional and national Government and its agencies, including Highways England and businesses.