NO2 pollution limits met for first time in 200 years
Independent government data has revealed that London’s air pollution levels have fallen to within the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) legal limits for the first time in 2024. Back in 2019, Kings College London experts estimated that it would take 193 years from when Sadiq Khan took office in 2016 to meet the limits. But this has been achieved in less than a decade.
The mayor has hailed “the success” of the “bold” air quality policies which allowed the capital’s NO2 levels to fall to within the legal limit for the first time.
In 2019, leading experts from Kings College London estimated that unless additional action is taken, it would be 193 years before London meets the legal limits. But the capital has now achieved it after just nine years, 184 years ahead of schedule!
New air quality data from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has shown that London met the limit for the first time in 2024, following an assessment through modelling and Defra’s approved air quality monitoring networks.
London sees around 4,000 premature deaths every year due to toxic air. A recent report from the Royal College of Physicians estimated that air pollution costs the country over £27 billion every year. Air pollution also raises the risk of asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke. There is also a growing body of evidence linking it to an increased risk of developing dementia.
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