Mayor of London unveils hard-hitting air quality campaign

With the launch of the T-charge less than a week away, London mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled a hard-hitting advertising campaign to underline the harm the capital’s filthy air can do to Londoners’ health and the urgent need to address the problem.

The adverts feature images of everyday objects, including a coffee cup and a baby’s bottle that appear to be covered in pollution next to a headline saying: “If you could see London’s air, you’d want to clean it too”.

They are part of the mayor’s commitment to leading on the issue and highlights to Londoners the scale of the challenge while providing them with the information they need on air quality.

The campaign will appear on social media from 18 October and on posters across the TfL network from 3 November.

The striking images highlight the £10 Emissions Surcharge (or ‘T-charge’) which comes into effect on Monday 23 October and will help remove older polluting vehicles from central London, as well as the other ambitious measures the mayor is introducing to clean up the capital’s harmful air.

Ahead of the T-charge, the mayor has also delivered a Cleaner Vehicle Checker, a new online tool to provide motorists with independently-tested emissions data for the vast majority of all new Euro 6 standard cars and vans on sale in the UK.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “London’s air is a killer and is linked to asthma, strokes, heart disease and dementia. I’m committed to doing all I can to cut pollution and help Londoners protect themselves from the harm it causes. These arresting images are designed to show Londoners how serious a threat air pollution is to their health, and explain the range of measures I’ve brought in and am working to introduce to make our air safer.

“The next stage will be the introduction of the £10 T-charge on Monday, which will help remove the oldest, most pollution vehicles from the heart of the capital. I refuse to be a Mayor who ignores this and I am determined to take effective action to reduce the harm it does to Londoners.”

The campaign follows the mayor recently publishing data which shows that every borough in London exceeds World Health Organisation limits for PM2.5, tiny toxic air particles so small they can be ingested deep into the lungs, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer.

Since taking office, Khan has doubled funding to be spent on tackling air quality in London to £875m over the next five years.