The Times, Ben Webster, Environment Editor, 29 July 2014
Drivers of diesel cars face penalties and restrictions to combat the growing threat posed by air pollution in cities, The Times has learnt.
Almost all diesel vehicle drivers will have to pay an extra £10 to drive into central London under plans being drawn up by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. Other cities across the country are looking urgently at ways to cut diesel fumes in order to comply with clean air rules from Europe.
Mr Johnson will also lobby the government to raise road tax on diesel cars to encourage motorists to switch to cleaner vehicles.
Air pollution causes about 29,000 premature deaths a year in Britain and the problem has been worsened by the rapid shift to diesel prompted by government tax incentives designed to lower carbon emissions.
Labour is planning a national network of low emission zones that would force older diesel vehicles out of many cities. Sheffield, Leicester, Bradford, Birmingham, Bristol and 15 other cities with poor air quality are considering introducing low emission zones. Oxford introduced one for buses this year and may extend it to other vehicles.
The £10 charge in the capital would be on top of the congestion charge and would come into play in 2020, meaning that diesel drivers would pay at least £20 to drive into the central London “ultra low emission zone”.
Only those diesels that meet the Euro 6 emissions standard will be exempt. Petrol cars registered before 2006 will also have to pay.
The initiatives are being driven by the threat of heavy fines from the European Commission for breaching air pollution limits. The commission launched legal proceedings against Britain in February.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admitted that London, Birmingham and Leeds would be exposed to dangerous air pollution from vehicle exhausts until the 2030s unless tougher action were taken. Diesel vehicles produce nitrogen dioxide, which can inflame the lung lining and lead to respiratory disease.
Mr Johnson will launch an “air quality manifesto” today that he claims will take London two thirds of the way to compliance with EU limits. He will say that the government and the commission must deliver the other third.
The government should reverse the incentives for diesel by increasing vehicle excise duty rates and the commission should establish a fund to help cities to switch to electric cars.
Matthew Pencharz, the mayor’s environment adviser, said: “We want to see an unwinding of incentives that have driven people to diesel. Euro engine standards on emissions have not delivered the savings expected, meaning we now have a legacy of a generation of dirty diesels.”
He said the ultra low emission zone, which will have the same boundaries as the congestion charge zone, would encourage drivers of diesel cars to switch back to petrol engines or buy the latest diesel models complying with the new Euro 6 standard. Mr Pencharz dismissed calls by environment groups and some scientists for a ban on most diesel cars in London and said that a £10 charge from 2020 would be fairer.
“It would not be reasonable to say, ‘I’m sorry, you have just bought that car but it’s now banned.’ People bought them in good faith and it’s not fair to clobber them,” he said. “We think a five-year notice gives enough warning. People who drive in once a month might not buy a newer car whereas somebody who drives in every day probably would do.”
Simon Birkett, director of the campaign group Clean Air in London, said that Mr Johnson had previously encouraged dirty diesel cars by exempting smaller ones from the congestion charge.