As chair of the human rights organisation Liberty in the early 00s, Khan campaigned against imprisonment without trial, then in 2005, as a new MP, voted against Labour’s proposal to hold terrorism suspects for 90 days without charge. He says his rebellion made an enemy of Tony Blair and stymied his career in the Commons, but he had to hold true to his beliefs. Three years later, however, he was a whip responsible for pushing through 42-day detention without charges. It’s hard to see him doing a similar U-turn on the climate. Sadiq Khan is one of the most prominent global politicians advocating for green issues. Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he's put the fight against climate change and air pollution front and centre - declaring a climate emergency, introducing the world's first Ultra-Low-Emission Zone, and committing to make London net zero-carbon by 2030.

I never used to be particularly “green”. When I was offered a salaried partnership in a law firm, I negotiated a parking space for my Saab convertible on the same street as the office in central London, and later upgraded to a gas-guzzling Land Rover Discovery. Climate change had always seemed very far away – both geographically and temporally. It was a “tomorrow” issue rather than a “today” issue.Despite significant improvements in London’s air quality between 2016 and 2019, a study by researchers from Imperial College London found that London’s toxic air contributed to the deaths of around 4,000 Londoners in 2019. The greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution were in outer London boroughs, mainly due to the higher proportion of elderly people in these areas, who are more vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution. of London’s most polluted hospitals have been awarded Breathe London air quality sensors and later this year other hospitals will have the option to buy in to the network at a subsidised cost. But the mayor of London is right to have confidence in his conviction. If Ken Livingstone’s original congestion charge in central London had been put to a referendum the day before it was brought in, it would have lost. Just a year or so later, a plurality of people supported the scheme. This event is Speech-to-Text transcribed (STT) and British Sign Language interpreted (BSL). The BSL interpretation is by Paul Michaels and Omoyele Davey (subject to change). The Mayor also announced new measures to support disabled people, including extending the existing exemption periods for London’s disabled drivers and community transport minibuses run by not-for-profit organisations to October 2027 and October 2025 respectively, and introducing new exemption periods for disabled drivers and wheelchair accessible vehicles. This will mean that over a quarter of a million disabled Londoners could be eligible for the new exemption periods, including those who automatically qualify for a Blue Badge. The Mayor is providing further support through scrapping the fee for drivers to sign up to Auto-Pay for the ULEZ and Congestion Charge.

Scandalised, Sadiq underwent a political transformation that would see him become one of the most prominent global politicians fighting (and winning) elections on green issues. Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he has declared a climate emergency, introduced the world's first Ultra-Low Emission Zone, and turned London into the first-ever 'National Park City'.The ULEZ is a very targeted scheme to get the most polluting vehicles off the road. Compliance within the current ULEZ area is now at 94 per cent, much higher than the 39 percent when ULEZ was first announced in 2017, and also higher than 85 per cent the month before previous expansion, and compliance in outer London is already around 85 per cent. This means that most drivers in outer London will not be impacted by the expansion London-wide.

At the time of writing, Khan is finding out how ugly the discourse around climate can get, as he seeks to expand the area of London in which a charge is levied on the dirtiest vehicles. Researchers from Imperial College London found Sadiq’s air quality policies will help improve life expectancy for a child born in 2013 by six months Ella Kissi-Debrah was seven years old when she was diagnosed with asthma. She lived just 25 metres from the congested South Circular Road in Lewisham, South East London. Covid saw a renaissance in the denial of established scientific reality, with anti-vaxxers and the like. A few short years later, traffic-calming measures are now decried as a globalist conspiracy of control orchestrated by the World Economic Forum. There is also a notable omission from Khan’s chapter headings: good old-fashioned denial. Khan argues that the era of climate denial is over, and that the people who formerly tried to cast doubt on the science have now accepted the consensus and have moved on to delaying climate action.Sadiq marks Clean Air Day with hospital visit as focus is on protecting children’s health from air pollution If I told you that your house was burning down, it would be illogical for you not to take action, right? And our planet is burning basically, so it's illogical for people not to take action. We've realised over the last few years that people haven't had a sense of urgency, and it's because it's been happening slowly over a long period of time. You mention the IPCC findings, but there have been a number of examples of equally worrying reports from experts where there hasn't been a sense of urgency. Just remember the 41°C temperatures last summer - people were literally overheating. Last year's wildfires led to the London Fire Brigade being the busiest it’s been since the Blitz. The year before we had flash flooding, where a number of our stations and tens of thousands of homes were flooded. We had massive floods in the Lake District in 2009 that at the time were called “floods of Biblical proportions” - they happen every two years now. So, it’s timely, but we could argue that it’s been timely for the last 5/ 10/ 15 years.But the point is, there is still a chance for us to do something about it.

This article first appeared in the latest issue of the Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. Find out more.Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director of Public Health, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), said: “Air pollution in London is the largest environmental health risk we are facing as a city, and one that affects the most vulnerable Londoners - including children - the most. Bold action is needed from all of us. Expanding the ULEZ will have significant health benefits for the city and prevent over 500,000 Londoners developing air pollution related diseases over 30 years.” Sadiq Khan was elected for a second term as Mayor of London in May 2021. He was previously an MP for Tooting, South London, for 11 years and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice from May 2010 and Shadow Minister for London from 2013. The Mayor has served as a Vice Chair of C40 Cities since 2016, helping lead the group in committing to new targets that make cities greener. So join us as we explore the big ideas changing the way we think, act and live – and how much impact we can really have as individuals. Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said: “Reducing air pollution, improving public health, and fighting climate change all go hand in hand. Sadiq’s leadership is helping to clean London’s air and set an example for cities around the world. The faster cities make progress, the more lives we can save, and the better our chances of avoiding the worst effects of climate change.” Adoo-Kissi-Debrah has seen an early copy of Breathe. “Sadiq said, ‘I’m going to mention your daughter, is that OK?’ I just shrugged and said yes. But I wasn’t expecting this! The book keeps Ella’s name alive and I’m glad she’s inspired him. In highlighting air pollution and its impact on us in terms of cardiovascular strokes, dementia, suicide, teenage depression and on children even before they are born, Sadiq’s done immense good.”