‘Landmark day’ as Ulez expands to the suburbs

Stark warning to world leaders from climate change peer ahead of summit

SADIQ KHAN today hailed a “landmark day” as the ultra-low emission zone expanded to London’s suburbs in a bid to reduce levels of toxic air.

But the Mayor faced demands for a “soft launch” and for motorists who fail to pay the £12.50-aday Ulez levy to be given a month-long amnesty from receiving a £160 fine.

Figures from City Hall today revealed that 87 per cent of vehicles in the expanded zone now meet the Ulez exhaust emission standards, meaning they are not liable for the 24/7 charge.

But 110,000 a day are thought likely to have to pay — which would generate a daily income for Transport for London of almost £1.4 million in levies

WORLD leaders were today urged to seize their place in history as the generation who saved the planet — but were warned if they fail to act now their populations will “never forgive” them.

The stark choice was laid out by Lord Deben, chairman of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, ahead of the COP26 global warming summit which starts next week in Glasgow.

In an interview with the Standard, the peer emphasised that the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels was already in an “urgently critical” state.

“We know that we face total destruction and we know how to prevent it, isn’t that a wonderful challenge,” he said.

“If this generation of leaders now steps up to that challenge, it will have made us the most responsive and responsible generation of all time.”

But as the years tick towards feared apocalyptic fire and floods, he warned: “We don’t have any time.

“The thing I want to say to democratically

We know that we face total destruction and we know how to prevent it, isn’t that a wonderful challenge Lord Deben

elected leaders is: ‘Your populations, however difficult they may find it now are never going to forgive you if you don’t take action now’.”

All eyes are on China’s president Xi Jinping to see whether he will fly to COP26, with expectations that a delegation including special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua will be sent instead.

“This is the time in which the world is going to act and not being part of that is a great pity,” added Lord Deben. “But you must make sure that those people who are a part of it are able to step up and include your country in the world.”

China was “doing a great deal” to address climate change, though he said: “What I would like to see of course is that China will bring its date for net zero forward to 2050.”

Lord Deben, who is better known as John Gummer and was environment secretary in John Major’s government, also turned the spotlight on Australia as a stumbling block in the battle to stop the use of coal to power economies.

“Australia is a country which really should have understood what needs to be done and I’m very hopeful that we can try to convince (prime minister) Scott Morrison that really he does have to commit himself to net zero and have a policy to do that otherwise Australia

will be left behind.” He believes there has been a major shift in the public’s perception of climate change as so many countries are feeling its force.

“If you look at Biden’s reaction to the floods in America… he said immediately ‘this is exacerbated and the result of climate change’ and they didn’t laugh at him whereas two years ago they would have,” he said. “The change is

that people are feeling this.” India’s prime minister Narendra Modi’s has “shown himself willing” to take on political challenges so his country goes green, Lord Deben believes, and Britain and other countries ahead on the net zero curve have a “mutuality” role to assist those facing bigger challenges moving to renewable energy.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has

made clear he will not attend COP26, and the peer said: “We shall just have to put international pressure of every kind on Russia (on climate change) and have to be very clear about not depending on Russian sources of energy for example.”

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro will also be absent. “It’s a really serious situation that Brazil is changing the climate of the world because it is not protecting the rainforests,” said Lord Deben. He believes that the “oil world is over”, with the world reliance on it due to fall sharply.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia had “partially understood that” and had made “very considerable” development in renewables, he added, speaking before the kingdom announced that its goal was for net zero by 2060.