Sadiq Khan’s much-hated Ulez scheme would take over 100 years to get London to net zero – overshooting the Mayor’s 2030 target by nearly a century, experts have claimed.
His deeply unpopular road charge, which has seen protests and violence on the city’s streets, is not a ‘big story’ in terms of environmental benefit, researchers say.
The revelation raises questions as to why the new driving levies were rushed through so quickly.
Mr Khan has insisted the Ulez scheme is not simply yet another income stream to prop up cash-strapped City Hall and the frequently delayed Tube network and is about the environment.
But Richard Holt, the director of global cities research at Oxford Economics, said non-compliant cars in London would have fallen anyway because of changing industry standards.
He says the greener type of cars being sold already will have much more impact than any of Mr Khan’s schemes.
Mr Khan has insisted the Ulez scheme is not simply yet another income stream to prop up cash-strapped City Hall and the frequently delayed Tube network
Mr Khan’s deeply unpopular road charge , which has seen protests and violence on the city’s streets
New Ulez camera being installed to try and catch motorists out and rack up daily fines for them
Mr Holt added: ‘It’s going to cut the number of high polluting vehicles by about 120,000 or less, out of three million vehicles in London, so it’s a small part of the overall story.
‘It will probably have some benefit, but it’s not a big story. The progress we have seen so far is really just because cars have become much, much more energy efficient and much cleaner than they used to be.
‘I think the first four years of Ulez, CO2 emissions fell by about 3 per cent over those three years, so it would take more than a century to get to net zero this way, which puts the scheme in perspective,’ he told the Telegraph.
The Ultra Low Emission Zone, was last week expanded to cover all of London’s 32 boroughs, an carries a daily charge of £12.50 if vehicles do not comply.
The new Oxford Economics report suggested that Mr Khan’s net zero goal is not achievable until 2050.
Ulez has been devastatingly unpopular already but vast resources have been deployed to make sure people are caught and fined.
A fleet of camera vans have already been deployed in a fresh bid to catch charge dodgers.
Mobile Ulez cameras mounted on vans have been spotted trying to catch drivers of incompliant vehicles near Heathrow
The mobile units were seen on the approach to Britain’s busiest airport, which is as of Tuesday within the £12.50 charging zone
The Ultra low emission zone expanded to cover all of London on Tuesday
Mobile units have been spotted on the approach to Heathrow, hidden next to a sign near the Western Perimeter Roundabout checking vehicles as they come off the M25.
The west London airport is now within the Ulez zone following the Mayor’s expansion of the scheme which took effect on Tuesday.
It comes amid a large wave of attacks on CCTV units, with over 500 of the 2,700 ANPR cameras reported to have been destroyed or disconnected by anti-Ulez vigilantes.
According to TfL’s data protection impact assessment, the new mobile units can be move between boroughs on any given day, so can be deployed to high non-compliance spots – such as outside Britain’s busiest airport.
Anti-Ulez vigilantes have damaged hundreds of cameras around the capital, such as by spraying them with paint
Over 500 of the 2,700 static CCTV cameras are now reported either missing or damaged
Although they can’t catch number plates while moving, they detect vehicles which haven’t complied with the rules from the roadside.
The vans are marked with a camera symbol on the rear doors along with the blue TfL roundel.
The Ulez charge operates every day of the year except Christmas Day, and failure to pay can attract a £180 fine, or £90 if paid within seven days.
Sadiq Khan’s scheme has attracted large opposition, although residents, charities, small traders and small businesses are able to scrap non-compliant cars to claim grants thanks to a £160million scheme run by TfL.
But in an effort to dodge the charge, vigilantes have vandalised cameras, including spraying them with paint, dismantling them and cutting their wires.
Maps showing the scale of the disruption show Bromley as the worst hit area, with a huge 83 per cent of its cameras reported either damaged or missing.
Boroughs including Sutton, Bexley and Lewisham have also been among those hit the hardest by the anti-Ulez campaign.
A spokesman for Mr Khan said: ‘The Mayor remains committed to making London net zero by 2030. The Ulez works and is London-wide. It is an important next step in tackling the triple challenges of toxic air pollution, traffic congestion and the climate emergency and it is just one of many policies the Mayor is championing to help reach that goal.
‘But the Mayor has been clear that in order for us to achieve net zero by 2030, the Government needs to step up as he only has powers to address less than half of London’s emissions.
‘He has urgently called on ministers to provide more funding and powers to City Hall to support our efforts to bolster our green economy and build a better, more prosperous London for everyone.’
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