Mayors call for ban on diesel and petrol cars to be brought forward a decade

'Air pollution is not an isolated problem, it’s a national health crisis,' says London mayor

Sales of new high-polluting cars are currently set to be phased out by 2040, but mayors from across England and Wales have called for an earlier deadline (Getty)

Mayors representing 20 million people from across England and Wales have called for the government to bring forward its ban on diesel and petrol vehicles by a decade.

Leaders from London, Manchester and the West Midlands were part of the group urging the environment secretary, Michael Gove, to take immediate action against air pollution, which has been linked to thousands of premature deaths.

Such a move would mean no new cars and vans using high-polluting fuels could be sold in the UK from 2030.

The government had previously announced the ban would come into force in 2040, but environmental groups and energy experts have been pushing for a more ambitious deadline.

Mr Gove will hear from the city representatives at a national air quality summit organised in part by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, which is set to take place on Wednesday.

Besides phasing out diesel and petrol vehicles early, the mayors are seeking support for clean air zones across the UK and a scrappage scheme for older cars to encourage the transition to low-emission vehicles.

“Air pollution is not an isolated problem, it’s a national health crisis,” said Mr Khan.

“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.”

Poor air quality in the UK is thought to contribute to more than 40,000 premature deaths every year, and a recent study by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bath found emissions from cars and vans cost the NHS and society £6bn annually.

Health impacts caused by pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates have been linked with a huge range of health conditions, from asthma to dementia.

“We have all been too complacent about the public health crisis of people breathing in illegal, polluted air. It is damaging health and shortening lives, particularly in our poorest communities,” said Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester.

“Greater Manchester is ready to break out of that and show the ambition needed to clean up our air. But we can’t do it alone.”

The cross-party group of leaders, which also included representatives from Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton and the West Midlands, will lay out a range of national targets to bring down the UK’s toxic air pollution levels.

These include demands for a modern clean air act with strong air quality limits and powers to enforce them, as well as more money to invest in cleaner buses, taxis and cycle paths.

Legal proceedings have been launched by the EU against the UK and five other countries after they repeatedly breached legally binding air pollution regulations.

Closer to home, environmental lawyers ClientEarth won their third case against the government in February against official proposals for reducing harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide, which the judge described as “seriously flawed”.

James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, said to improve the situation there was a need for immediate policies and investment to help people transition to cleaner transport sooner rather than later.

“Clean air zones will help take the dirtiest vehicles out of our towns and cities but we need to see changes to the tax regime, fiscal incentives and an industry-supported, targeted scrappage scheme to support people and businesses as they move to cleaner forms of transport,” he noted.

The new clean air strategy, revealed by the government in May, set out its plans to tackle emissions from sources including agriculture, industry and wood-burning stoves, but omitted road vehicles.

The government will soon publish its Road to Zero strategy, which will lay out the details of how high-polluting cars will be phased out.

Other nations including the Netherlands, India and Ireland have set 2030 as their target date for a petrol and diesel ban, while Norway has pledged an even more ambitious deadline of 2025.

Research carried out by environmental group WWF has previously suggested bringing the ban forwards by a decade would lead to a 30 per cent reduction in pollution in 2030, and potentially make the UK a world leader in low emission technology.

“Combining electric vehicles with smart charging technology, we could move to 100 per cent electric vehicle sales in the UK by 2030 while reducing the annual cost of charging an electric vehicle to less than £100 – compared to an average annual petrol bill of £800 today,” said Gareth Redmond-King, head of energy and climate change at WWF.

“The UK government must bring forward the phase-out of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 to 2030 in its electric vehicle strategy to show it’s serious about reducing carbon emissions and leading the fight against climate change.”

Lawrence Slade, chief executive of trade association Energy UK, said: “We fully support a more ambitious deadline and think bringing forward the current 2040 ban is both feasible and desirable.

“Electric vehicles have the potential to make a massive and essential contribution to meeting our emissions reduction targets and reducing harmful air pollution in our towns and cities.

“Additionally, their potential to store and supply electricity means they could have a transformative effect on the energy system itself.”

A government spokesperson said: “We will end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, going further than almost every other European nation.

“This is an ambitious and challenging timetable recognising the wider technological, infrastructure and behavioural changes that need to take place in order to support this transition.

“Air pollution has improved significantly since 2010, but we recognise there is more to do which is why we have a £3.5bn plan to reduce harmful emissions, and will set out further actions through a comprehensive clean air strategy later this year.”