What’s your part in the movement for cleaner air?

There is a lot of movement and investment in the renewable or bio energy industry. With pollution levels high, governments and councils are aiming to tackle this issue. Sadiq Khan, who became mayor in 2016, has made fighting air pollution a key priority, with a new ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) for central London and a commitment to spend £800m on air quality initiatives over five years.

 

So the government and councils such as Hackney are introducing initiatives such as ULEZ and certain roads/streets you can’t enter (unless you have an Electric Vehicle) or in the case of the ULEZ, meet the emission criteria. Then you have other individuals, who try to do what they can by walking and cycling more.

Other individuals use less favourable methods as is the case with the Extinction Rebellion group. They have been protesting over the looming climate crises all across busy high streets in London and in a lot of cases blocking off roads and bridges. The first sit down protest came on Saturday the 17^th of November, where you saw five London bridges blocked off by thousands of protesters. Dozens of arrests were made, although the protest was generally peaceful, being described as a “huge act of peaceful civil disobedience”.

 

 

Their most recent protest is today, the 21^st of November with reports of ‘Swarming’ sit-down protests disrupt London traffic during the morning. The Guardian reports, “One group of protesters from Extinction Rebellion blocked traffic over the Thames at Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges by 9am, while other groups took action at Elephant and Castle, Tower Bridge and Earl’s Court.”

 

So how do you think London can tackle the pollution problem?