Welcome for LEZ cash to get polluting vehicles off the road

Environmental campaigners have welcomed the news that the Scottish Government has launched a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Mobility Fund, offering cash incentives and vouchers, to get the most polluting vehicles off Scotland’s roads.

Air pollution claims around 2,500 lives in Scotland each year but in August 2020 the Scottish Government announced an 18-month delay to their Low Emission Zone plans from December 2020 to May 2022.

The Low Emission Zones were first announced in the 2017 Programme for Government. Three years on, restrictions have only been applied to buses in Glasgow.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Air Pollution Campaigner Gavin Thomson said:

“This fund is a small but very welcome initiative to help ensure Low Emission Zones are a part of a just transition to zero carbon, with families and small businesses rightly supported. We’ll need innovative ideas like this rolled out at scale if we are to meet our goals of cutting toxic air pollution and climate emissions.”

“The Scottish Government and Councils recently chose to further delay the introduction of Low Emission Zones in our biggest cities meaning the positive benefits for clean air won’t be in place for many years. Children in Glasgow are breathing toxic air today so to protect public health, we need to start restricting the most polluting vehicles from city centres now, not in 2023.

“Transport is Scotland’s biggest climate emitter, and there are 3 million fossil fuel cars on our roads. Every political party needs to go into next year’s election with big ideas for reducing private car travel, and making it easy and affordable to walk, cycle, or take public transport.”
ENDS