WHAT ON EARTH SUMMER 2021
Clean air zones arrive at last
By Gavin Thomson, Air Pollution Campaigner
We are finally beginning to see the Low Emission Zones being introduced in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen that were announced by the Scottish Government in 2016. There is still a significant wait until any vehicles will actually be restricted in any of these cities. The Low Emission Zone in Glasgow is the furthest along, where the oldest vehicles will be restricted from the city centre from June 2023, with the other three following along a year later.
The introduction of the Low Emission Zones is a step in the right direction. We know that they are one of the most effective ways of reducing air pollution, and there have been 14 years of consistently illegal levels across all four of these cities, with only a short reduction in the first lockdown last year when traffic levels briefly plummeted. Air pollution is estimated to cause over 2,500 early deaths in Scotland each year. It has been linked to wide reaching health implications, including cancer, heart failure, asthma, cognitive impairments, and miscarriage.
