Diesel vehicles to be banned 02 | 12 | 2016

    DRASTIC MEASURES ARE to be introduced by the mayors of four major European cities which will see diesel vehicles banned from entering them by 2025. The stance is aimed at improving air quality.

    At the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City, the leaders of Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico City pledged to work together to further incentivise the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles and improve infrastructure for walking and cycling.

    “Mayors have already stood up to say that the climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face,” Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and the new chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, said.

    “Today, we also stand up to say we no longer tolerate air pollution and the health problems and deaths it causes – particularly for our most vulnerable citizens. Big problems like air pollution require bold action, and we call on car and bus manufacturers to join us.”

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    The four mayors called for more global leaders to recognise the health risks of growing urban populations, citing World Health Organisation research that calculated three million deaths per year can be linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution.

    The move is the latest in a growing global political campaign aimed at banning diesel vehicles, and potentially diesel cars, from cities and regions.

    Earlier this year, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) called for London mayor Sadiq Khan to ban diesel vehicles from the UK capital in order to meet his target of a 60% reduction in emissions by 2025.

    Since then, Khan has announced a new £10 Toxicity Charge for the city, which targets pre-Euro 4 vehicles - mostly cars registered before 2005.

    And recently, all 16 states in Germany stated their intention to ban both petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

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    Jim McGill

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