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The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has launched the capital's official 'Cleaner Air' website, www.cleanerairforlondon.org.uk.
The site includes personalised tools to help Londoners, young people and businesses to play their part in reducing emissions and their exposure to air pollution. It features a raft of data from monitoring stations across the capital, as well as important, yet easy steps people can take such as walking or cycling to work, or making more informed choices about the routes they use to improve air quality and reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.
Recognising the powerful role that businesses can play in improving air quality, the site includes resources such as case studies and technical guides to help businesses reduce their emissions by replacing old boilers, improving deliveries and encouraging staff to travel in a more sustainable way.
It also features sections that are aimed specifically at young people, with information that focuses on some of the sources and effects of air pollution in London past and present, as well as educational classroom activities for parents and teachers.
The Mayor, working with London's boroughs, Transport for London and other key stakeholders, has made significant progress in improving air quality in London. Emissions of NOx (Oxides of Nitrogen) have been reduced by 20% and PM10 by 15% with the Mayor introducing tough new Low Emission Zone standards, cleaner buses and retiring 3,000 of the oldest, most polluting taxis from the capital's road network.
New research released by the Mayor shows that his measures to improve London’s air quality has resulted in the number of Londoners living in areas exceeding EU limit values of NO2 to have more than halved since 2008. However, air pollution does remain a major challenge for a global city with a rising population and 1.7 million Londoners continue to live in areas exceeding the limit values for NO2 but that is projected to decrease to around 300,000 Londoners by 2020.
The Mayor said: "Real progress has been made in improving London's air quality in recent years, but as an expanding global city that is grappling with population growth, there are some big challenges ahead. Londoners and the capital's businesses have a hugely important role to play in reducing emissions and thanks to this new website for the first time we have the tools to help do this. I encourage everyone who’s passionate about improving the air we breathe to log on and check out what ‘Cleaner Air for London’ has to offer."
(CD/MH)
