London plans to spend $1.1 billion to boost air quality
London is to more than double the money used to tackle air pollution in the city, the city's mayor has confirmed.
On Wednesday Sadiq Khan said that £875 million ($1.1 billion) would be spent to boost air quality in London up until 2021/22. Air pollution is becoming an increasingly serious problem in London, with authorities saying that 9,400 deaths a year can be attributed to illnesses connected to air quality.
A range of proposals have been made to tackle the health related dangers from air pollution. These include the introduction of an Ultra-Low Emission Zone as well as five Low Emission Neighborhoods across eight boroughs.
"With nearly 10,000 Londoners dying early every year due to air pollution, tackling poor air quality is a public health emergency that requires bold action," Khan said in a statement on Wednesday. "I want London to be a world leader in how we respond to the challenge of cleaning up our air," he added.
Wednesday's announcement is the latest in a raft of new measures aimed at making London a greener, more environmentally friendly city.
On Monday, authorities said they were looking to invest £770 million in cycling over the next five years. Last week, it was announced that London would be home to the world's first double decker bus powered by hydrogen.
The U.K. capital is not the only major capital looking to tackle pollution head on. The mayors of four major cities – Mexico City, Madrid, Paris and Athens – recently pledged to ban diesel vehicles from their streets by 2025.
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