London, San Francisco and Beijing achieve ‘remarkable reductions’ in air pollution

Cycle lanes, electric cars and other interventions have helped 19 global cities slash levels of pollutants by more than 20% London, San Francisco and Beijing are among 19 global cities that have achieved “remarkable reductions” in air pollution, analysis has found, having slashed levels of two airway-aggravating pollutants by more than 20% since 2010. The analysis found interventions such as cycle lanes, uptake of electric cars and restrictions on polluting vehicles had helped to drive the improvements. Beijing and Warsaw topped the ranking for cleaning up fine particulate pollution (PM2.5), reducing levels by more than 45%, while Amsterdam and Rotterdam saw the greatest improvement in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with cuts of more than 40%. San Francisco was the only US city that cut levels of both pollutants by more than 20%, according to the analysis of nearly 100 cities around the world. China and Hong Kong are home to nine of the 19 cities, with European cities making up the rest. “This report shows that cities can achieve what was once thought impossible: cutting toxic air pollution by 20-45% in a little over a decade,” said Cecilia Vaca Jones, executive director of Breath