The issue of air pollution has been capturing the attention of policy makers and country leaders as human and plant life has been adversely affected with the repercussions of increased air pollution across countries. This study is about Ulez and its impact on the air quality and health where Ulez stands for “Ultra Low Emission Zone” implemented within London. Ulez is supposed to improve the air quality within the capital of the UK while reducing air pollution through putting restrictions on certain vehicle drivers. However, misinformation campaigns and political propaganda is likely to mislead the public by misinterpreting the effectiveness of the Ulez in terms of combating the issue of air pollution. The study aims to facilitate accurate information regarding Ulez and its impact on the air quality while providing appropriate recommendations regarding the issue.
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The introduction of Ulez is intertwined with the health and safety of the citizens belonging to London and its vicinity. The level of Nitrogen dioxide had fallen by 18.4% in Central London following the implementation of Ulez where the reduction was seen in 2019 compared to the period between 2016 and 2018 (Kelly, 2023). The Ulez aims to improve air quality within the capital of the UK and its neighbouring regions by reducing the volume of vehicles within the city that do not meet the emission standards. Therefore, reduced harmful emissions with the implementation of Ulez implies fewer hospital admissions and reduced cases of life-threatening illness such as cancer, heart disease and asthma (Prieto Rodríguez et al. 2022). The aforementioned fact highlights the way by which the introduction of Ulez is linked with the health and safety of the population within London and its neighbouring areas. Combating climate change is also one of the important intentions behind the implementation of Ulez.
Effective implementation of Ulez in the capital of the UK is subjected to the prudent usage of the acts and regulations while practising restrictions on certain vehicles. For example, section 295 under the “Greater London Authority Act 1999” is levied for introducing ‘Road user charging’ across greater london (Parliament, 2023). Therefore, the local authorities are able to pose restrictions to vehicles not meeting certain emission standards under the aforementioned act. The government of the UK has also been enforcing the provisions under the “Environment Act 1995” for directing the local authorities within London to produce and implement clean air plans such as Ulez (Mabbett, 2023). The “Transport Act 2000” is also one of the important regulations within the UK that has been associated with effective implementation of Ulez within the city as it provides local authorities the power required for charging the drivers of the vehicles that do not meet the emission standards.
Partners involved
Different stakeholders such as Tfl, capita, Amdocs, and London Assembly Environment
Committee has been associated with the introduction and implementation of Ulez in London through appropriate plans and strategies. Both the statutory and nonstatutory partners have been responsible for the optimal implementation of Ulez within the city. For example, the agency named Capita has been designing, operating, and implementing the processes and systems for Ulez while operating the call centre (Capita, 2021). Moreover, the partner has also been processing the customer transaction from camera to payment. Statutory partners such as Tfl monitor the vehicles entering and exiting the Ulez while using cameras for detecting whether vehicles meet the Ulez emission standards (Tfl, 2021). Moreover, Tfl has been funding for the expansion of Ulez within the city while partnering with “Greater London Authority.” Therefore, both the statutory and nonstatutory partners have been contributing to the expansion and effective implementation of Ulez by appropriate strategies.
The implementation of Ulez has been associated with the health and mental wellbeing of the population within the city and its neighbouring areas because it reduces harmful emissions within the region. The intervention of incentivising citizens to drive cleaner vehicles with the implementation of Ulez holds dynamic significance for the protection and improvement of human health within the city. People are becoming more encouraged to adopt greener vehicles such as electric cars with the provisions of incentives under Ulez (Gustafsson, 2022). Hence, harmful emissions are bound to be minimised with a significant share of the vehicle users going green with their vehicles.
The implementation of Ulez has already helped reduce anxiety among the population by 6% while improving general health by 3% (Medicalxpress, 2023). Moreover, the number of sick leaves has also been reduced by 18% following the reduction of harmful emissions through restrictions on certain vehicles under Ulez. The mayor of London has introduced a scrappage scheme associated with Ulez where a fund of 160 million British pounds is allocated for assisting sole traders, small businesses, and citizens in using greener vehicles (Beshir and Fichera, 2022). This further reduces the economic burden for those businesses and citizens in terms of replacing the traditional vehicles with the greener ones.
Summary
Air pollution has been one of the major environmental risks that have a negative impact on human health. Moreover, air pollution has been causing more deaths than other risk factors such as malnutrition, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity. Ulez has been implemented within London with the aim of improving air quality within the city by minising harmful emissions. The introduction and implementation of Ulez are subjected to the enforcement of strict measures for the drivers of the vehicles that do not meet Ulez emission standards. Political propaganda and misinformation campaigns tend to mislead the public through facilitating misinterpretation of the efficacy of Ulez implementation even though it has a positive impact on the health and mental wellbeing of the population within the capital of the UK and its neighbouring areas.
The level of Nitrogen oxide in the air has fallen significantly with the old and unfair vehicles being restricted to enter the Zone. The citizens living within the area are getting less sick with the reduction of air pollution following the implementation of Ulez. The “Greater London Authority Act 1999” has been intertwined with the Ulez implementation as it empowers the local authorities to impose fines on the vehicle drivers upon failing to meet the Ulez emission standards. Tfl and Capita are some of the important statutory and non-statutory partners associated with Ulez implementation. Anxiety among the population has been reducing following the Ulez implementation as fewer citizens are getting sick through life threatening diseases such as asthma and other heath disease.
Recommendation
The introduction of Ulez has been effective within London with many of the citizens releasing the benefits of the Ulez implementation within the city. However, there are still some gaps within the effective implementation of Ulez within the city. Following are some recommendations that can be enacted to ensure dynamic and optimal implementation of Ulez within the capital of the UK.
Political propaganda and misinformation campaigns have been misleading the public regarding the efficacy of Ulez implementation through misinterpreting facts. Propaganda and the misinformation campaigns can lead to public demonstration within the city restricting the effective implementation of Ulez within the city. Policy makers and the government of the UK can intervene in this matter to educate the people regarding the importance of the Ulez in terms of improving air quality within the city and health wellbeing of the citizens (Mabbett, 2023). Therefore, the approach of media literacy is very important in this regard where awareness among the citizens regarding the efficacy of Ulez implementation can be improved through the presentation of actual facts through media. The government of the UK can also monitor and curb the circulation of fake news through media and social media platforms for managing and controlling political propaganda and misinformation campaigns.
The government of the UK can consider investing more for developing the camera enforcement infrastructure to ensure that all of the vehicles entertaining the Ulez zone are monitored properly. A dynamic camera enforcement infrastructure tends to strengthen the monitoring exercises conducted under Ulez (Conte Keivabu and Rüttenauer, 2022). Therefore, the efficacy of the Ulez implementation can be improved dynamically with the government of the UK investing more for camera enforcement infrastructure while partnering with statutory partners such as Tfl. This will further help the local authorities conduct more comprehensive monitoring exercises within the Ulez zone.
Reference list
Beshir, H. and Fichera, E., 2022. “And Breathe Normally”: The Low Emission Zone impacts on health and well-being in England. HEDG Working Papers, 22 (09): 393–408.
Capita, (2021). Capita-operated Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion launches in London. Available at: https://www.capita.com/news/capita-operated-ultra-low-emission-zone-expansion-launches-london[Accessed on: 09.11.2023]
Conte Keivabu, R. and Rüttenauer, T., 2022. London congestion charge: the impact on air pollution and school attendance by socioeconomic status. Population and Environment, 43(4), pp.576-596.
Gustafsson, G., 2022. Urban Planning for Better Air Quality: A case study of the Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods in London.
Kelly, J. W., (2023). London air quality improved by Ulez and Lez – report. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67288327#:~:text=Cleaner%20air%20in%20London%20brought,and%20bronchitis%2C%20the%20report%20said. [Accessed on: 09.11.2023]
Ma, L., Graham, D.J. and Stettler, M.E., 2021. Has the ultra low emission zone in London improved air quality?. Environmental Research Letters, 16(12), p.124001.
Mabbett, D., 2023. London's ULEZ: Where Next for Curbing Emissions?. The Political Quarterly, 94(3), pp.481-486.
Medicalxpress, (2023). London's Low Emission Zones improve air quality, health, and people's well-being, says new analysis. Available at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-london-emission-zones-air-quality.html#:~:text=The%20research%20uses%20data%20on,has%20reduced%20anxiety%20by%206%25. [Accessed on: 09.11.2023]
Parliament, (2023). Clean Air Zones, Low Emission Zones and the London ULEZ. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9816/[Accessed on: 09.11.2023]
Prieto Rodríguez, J., Pérez Villadóniga, M.J., Salas, R. and Russo, A., 2022. Impact of london toxicity charge and ultra low emission zone on no2. Transport policy.
Tfl, (2021). Cost of implementing ULEZ zone. Available at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0624-2122 [Accessed on: 09.11.2023]
