The Toxicity Charge (T-Charge) and improving air quality in London

Today Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, introduced the Toxicity Charge (or T-Charge) in central London to tackle emissions from the oldest polluting vehicles. Since I’ve lived in London for 46 years and visit central London several times a week, I welcome this policy.

The T-Charge is part of a package of actions intended to help clean up London’s dangerously polluted air which contributes to thousands of early deaths each year in London. It also impacts our health over the course of our lives – leading to smaller lungs in our children and greater risk of dementia and strokes as we get older.

The T-Charge is said to be the toughest vehicle emission standard of any world city and is a step to implementing an Ultra Low Emission Zone with even tighter standards from April 2019 (subject to consultation). The Mayor has more than doubled funding to improve London’s air quality to £875 million, and is cleaning up London’s bus and taxi fleets.

The powerful response to the smogs of the 1950s and 1960s shows that it is possible to improve air quality in London if we are bold enough. But to do this the leadership shown by the Mayor needs to be matched by equally ambitious action by Government, including a national diesel scrappage fund, a new Clean Air Act and stronger powers for regional and local authorities to tackle non-transport sources of pollution.