Breathe gives title to the book with which the mayor of London, the Labour Sadiq Khan, tries to combat "fatalism, apathy, cynicism, hostility, misinformation" and other obstacles that prevent progress towards the goal of clean air in cities.

For Khan it is a very personal problem since at the age of 43 he was diagnosed with asthma and his doctor attributed it to his long preparatory sessions for the marathon, breathing the polluted air of London. In 2020, as mayor, he witnessed the first official acknowledgement of a pollution death in his city. Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah died at age 13 after being hospitalized 27 times for asthma attacks.

Sadiq Khan admits that he had never been particularly 'green', but his experience and his close contact with Rosamund, Ella's activist mother, made him open his eyes and lungs...

"Pollution is a major health emergency in cities. The fight for clean air is as pressing as the fight against tobacco once was. Cancer, asthma or heart conditions, for example. It is estimated that pollution causes more than nine million premature deaths worldwide a year, around 36,000 in the UK and more than 4,000 in London."

"Like climate change, it is an invisible killer, because we are not facing the smog that wreaked so much havoc in this city in the nineteenth century," he adds. "That is why it is urgent to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels, in the same way that CO2 emissions must be lowered."

Climate Action Week

London celebrates these days the Climate Action Week, and Khan has taken advantage of his dual status as president of the C40 group to present the Breathe Cities initiative, sponsored by the former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and with a budget of 27 million euros of technical and material assistance for clean air in cities.

The main workhorse is however the mayor in London itself: on August 29 comes into force the extension to the entire urban perimeter of the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ), the equivalent of Central Madrid. Former mayor Boris Johnson, conservative media and several boroughs have called for popular revolt against the initiative, which imposes the payment of a toll of 12.50 pounds (15 euros) to vehicles that do not meet emissions standards.

"The purpose of the ULEZ has been to combat pollution and improve air quality in the city," Khan warns. "The results have been revolutionary: nitrogen dioxide levels since its introduction in inner and central London have fallen by 21% and 46% respectively, compared to the situation we would have without this measure."

"The money has been used to improve and electrify public transport, with one of the largest fleets of 'clean' buses in Europe," says Khan. The media noise against the ULEZ is however increasing as the date approaches, but the mayor is determined to take the fight to the end: "The evidence is with me and the science, too. And I think the silent majority is too, in contrast to that vociferous minority."

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There are understandable concerns among people about the necessary changes, so we must first and foremost ensure that the ecological transition is just and benefits everyone," Kahn acknowledges. "That said, it is worrying to see how hard-right parties are using climate change to divide people."

"There is a lot of misinformation circulating, people spreading conspiracy theories about the climate and financed by very specific interests, which aim to scare the majority," he warns. "But in London we have the path marked, with a climate action plan and the ambition to reach zero emissions by 2030, before many other big cities."

At 52, with asthma in tow and some mental fatigue, Khan admits that there have been times when he has wanted to throw in the towel. But Breathe has become something like his oxygen balloon, with the aspiration of revalidating for the third time the mandate as mayor and crossing the finish line without lacking air: "I have every intention of continuing and giving support from London to the future Labour prime minister. Keir Starmer. It would be absurd to throw stones at my own roof or push something that I knew was going to make me leave City Hall through the back door."

  • Environment
  • London
  • Sadiq Khan

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