![\"London's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/londons-low-emission-z.jpg\" "\\"Ultra")
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Ultra Low Emission Zone, Central London. Credit: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2025). DOI: 10.1016\/j.jebo.2025.106994<\/p>\n
New research from the University of Bath has revealed that Greater London’s clean air policies\u2014the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)\u2014are not only improving the city’s environment but are also delivering significant measurable public health and economic benefits.<\/p>\n
The study, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization<\/a> which analyzed over a decade of data from Greater London and Central London, found that the introduction of the LEZ in 2008 and the ULEZ in 2019 significantly reduced harmful pollutants like nitrogen dioxide<\/a> (NO\u2082) and particulate matter<\/a> (PM10), resulting in a dramatic drop in sick leave in Greater London, and improved mental well-being and substantial cost savings.<\/p>\n Key findings in Greater London compared to areas in England without low emission zones:<\/p>\n Professor Eleonora Fichera from the University’s Department of Economics and Centre for 21st Century Public Health said, “These policies are not just environmental wins. They’re also reducing labor market absenteeism and improving Londoners’ life satisfaction. Clean air makes for healthier, happier, more productive communities.”<\/p>\n Dr. Habtamu Beshir, who led the research at the University of Bath and is now based at UCL said, “Our work shows that clean air policy is smart policy. It protects health, saves money, and enhances quality of life\u2014making the case for clean air initiatives stronger than ever.”<\/p>\n The study employed a quasi-experimental method, analyzing changes in affected and unaffected areas before and after policy rollout. The data shows that when LEZ was tightened in Phase 2 (July 2008), NO\u2082 levels dropped by 5.8% and PM10 by 9.7%. ULEZ, the strictest policy of its kind globally, delivered even greater reductions\u2014NO\u2082 down 21% and PM10 down 15% estimated by comparing Central London to other areas outside Greater London, before and after ULEZ was introduced.<\/p>\n The research adds weight to the growing international body of evidence linking air pollution control with public health and economic outcomes.<\/p>\n Professor Eleonora Fichera added, “With the World Health Organization estimating 4.2 million premature deaths<\/a> globally each year due to air pollution, these findings signal the urgent need for similar transport policies in other major cities not just in the UK but around the world.”<\/p>\n More information:<\/strong> \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation<\/strong>: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHabtamu Ali Beshir et al, “And Breathe Normally”: Impacts of low emission zones on sick leave and mental well-being, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2025). DOI: 10.1016\/j.jebo.2025.106994<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversity of Bath<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLondon’s low emission zones save lives and money, new study finds (2025, April 23)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 23 April 2025
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-04-london-emission-zones-money.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ultra Low Emission Zone, Central London. Credit: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2025). DOI: 10.1016\/j.jebo.2025.106994 New research…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,75,76,74,71,70,72,53,73,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-44413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-materials","13":"tag-nanotech","14":"tag-physics","15":"tag-physics-news","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-science-news","18":"tag-technology","19":"tag-technology-news","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}