Green Party Assembly Member Caroline Russell has urged London Mayor Sadiq Khan to follow Paris by imposing speed limit cuts and driving restrictions during periods of high ozone pollution.
Ozone forms near the ground when other pollutants react together in strong sunlight, often during heatwaves. London has already experienced three high ozone alerts this year, including two during June’s heatwave. At the time, Sir Sadiq advised Londoners to avoid idling their engines, burning garden waste, and to use public transport if possible.
Russell calls for clearer warnings
Ms Russell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the harm caused by ozone pollution is still not “well understood” by the average Londoner but has a significant impact on people with lung and heart conditions. She suggested City Hall adopt ‘amber’ and ‘red’ warnings – similar to heat alerts – instead of the current “moderate” and “high” classifications.
“Because it’s quite complicated to inform residents about it in a digestible way and people can’t see it, not many people talk about it,” she said. “We’re glad the Mayor warns people about high pollution – but a simpler way of categorising ozone pollution as ‘amber’ or ‘red’ instead of moderate or high means more people would understand.”
Learning from Paris
Earlier this month, motorists across the Île-de-France were told that speed restrictions were 20km/h lower than usual when ozone pollution crossed a certain threshold. Other measures include banning older and more polluting cars.
“We need to be a bit more French – in Paris, they issue warnings for high ozone across a really wide area, the equivalent of Greater London, and reduce speed limits while advising people not to drive if possible because that will lower the scale of the ozone pollution and health impact,” Russell said.
She added: “The Mayor could both implement this system and also think about reducing speed limits when the risk of ozone pollution is high, and advise people not to drive to reduce the likelihood of some Londoners having heart attacks or extreme asthma attacks. Ozone pollution is just another element of the pressure on our health when we have these heatwaves.”
Mayor’s response
During an exchange with Ms Russell at Mayor’s Question Time earlier this month, Sir Sadiq acknowledged that increasingly hot and sunny summers mean the “conditions that favour ozone formation are increasing”. He said he would consider whether the current alert system was “user-friendly” and look into the benefits of a traffic light system with officials. Regarding the Parisian system, the Mayor said he was “always happy to learn from other cities if they’re doing things in a more effective way”.
