In 2019, London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the world’s first 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London to protect the city’s residents from deadly air pollution. The ULEZ imposed £12.50 fines on vehicles whose emissions exceeded certain standards. Two years later, Khan expanded the zone to include inner London within the boundaries of the North and South Circular roads.
A group of teenagers, living in some of London’s most polluted communities, are posting roadsigns highlighting the disproportionate impact air pollution has on people of color. The campaign, organized by Choked Up, a group made up of self-described “Black & brown teens,” has posted signs throughout the city which warn “breathing kills” and “pollution zone,” […]
By Jessica Corbett Following in the footsteps of leaders in Milan and New York City who are heeding global calls to #BuildBackBetter from the coronavirus pandemic, London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Friday unveiled plans to create “one of the largest car-free zones in any capital city in the world” to improve local air quality and […]
Microplastics have been found everywhere in the world, from the depths of the ocean to the pristine mountaintops of the Pyrenees mountains to Arctic snow. Now a team of researchers in the United Kingdom is testing the concentrations of microplastics in cities. Sure enough, the tiny plastic particles are raining down on urban populations, as […]
It’s a scary time for the world’s pollinators. A study published in February warned that more than 40 percent of the world’s insects could go extinct within the next 30 years. Another study published in Nature in March found that a third of wild pollinator species in the UK had declined since 1980. But one […]
More than 100 people were arrested during ongoing climate change protests in London that brought parts of the British capital to a standstill, police said Tuesday. Demonstrators had started by blocking off a bridge and major central road junctions on Monday at the start of a civil disobedience campaign that also saw action in other […]
On Saturday, More than 6,000 climate activists shut down five bridges in Central London. The protest, organized under the banner of Extinction Rebellion to call for urgent action on climate change, was the first to intentionally block the bridges “in living memory,” the group reported. The mood was festive as demonstrators from around London held […]
As regional, state, city and business leaders head to San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit Wednesday, New York City and London are stepping up as urban leaders on climate change. In a joint statement published in The Guardian on Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged […]
One plastic bottle at a time, adventurer Dhruv Boruah pedals up and down England’s rivers and canals not only to collect waste but to also raise awareness about the planet’s growing plastic problem. The 35-year-old former management consultant, who now heads The Thames Project, picks up plastics and other debris from waterways every three weeks, […]