When I introduced London’s clean air zone – the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) – more than seven years ago, no city had ever attempted anything quite like it. At the time, the scheme in central London provoked fierce opposition. When I decided to expand it – first in 2021, to inner London, and then again in 2023 to the whole city, making it the biggest clean-air zone in the world – my detractors were louder still.
I had, they claimed, declared war on drivers in blind pursuit of a policy that may not even work. All the mainstream political parties, including my own, were opposed. In recent years, though, those critics have gone quiet.
There is now a mountain of evidence to show that the Ulez has slashed air pollution and improved air quality across London, and research published by Imperial College London earlier this year showed that this is already saving lives. Between 2019 (when I first introduced the Ulez) and 2024, estimated deaths associated with air pollution in the capital fell by around 40%. But a new, independent study published by Queen Mary University of London today goes further still, showing how – by helping to clean up the capital’s air – the Ulez is improving the lungs and lives of London’s children.
Young children are the first to feel the impact of air pollution. They breathe faster than adults, and more often through their mouths, allowing more pollution to pass into their bodies. Their heads are lower to the ground, too, meaning they’re closer to vehicle exhausts pumping out poisonous chemicals.
And, because they’re still growing, long-term exposure to air pollution can do lasting damage to their development, leading to problems such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer when they’re older. One of the first places I visited when I was elected mayor 10 years ago was the Sir John Cass’s Foundation primary school in Aldgate, now known as The Aldgate school. On the school’s roof, I joined children who were growing a garden.
As they proudly showed me what they’d planted, the kids told me about how much they loved spending time outdoors. But, speaking to their teachers, it was obvious that they were worried about the air the children were breathing. The school was next to one of inner London’s busiest roads and, while an air-quality monitor had been installed in the playground, they were powerless to stop toxic fumes from the traffic passing by.
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