Coronavirus lockdowns have had a profound impact
on the environment.
In April, daily global carbon dioxide emissions
were down 17 per cent compared to the same time last year.
And levels of other toxic fumes like nitrogen dioxide, sulphur
dioxide, and ozone were much lower than average, too.
Almost half of that slump in emissions
came from power generation and heavy industry,
as manufacturing ground to a halt. But almost half again,
came from a decline in road traffic,
as people were forced to stay home during lockdown.
Now that travel bans are lifting around the world,
a lot depends on how we choose to get around and particularly,
on how and if we choose to commute to the office.
Millions have lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
And millions more have adapted to working from home.
One way or another, many of us could
be staying away from the office in the long-term.
The future of the office could be in doubt.
Investment in London's office space market dropped to £2.3bn
in the first quarter of 2020.
That's almost a third down from the long-term average
of £3.4bn.
If London's office workers do stay home long-term,
lockdown has given us a clear picture of what that
would mean for air pollution.
Air quality has improved by a third around some
of the capital's prime corporate real estate,
mostly thanks to a dramatic reduction
in nitrogen dioxide emissions from cars.
Keith, you are the chair of the Health and Environment
Committee at the City of London, which has seen
a huge impact from coronavirus.
What sort of changes have you seen in air pollution levels
during the lockdown?
Back in 2014, we had some roadside measuring stations
that were recording 120 micrograms per cubic metre.
Now that's come way down.
Everything was under the 40 micrograms per cubic metre
through the lockdown.
Also, particulate matter, the PM10s and the PM2.5s,
which are the really damaging pollutants -
the PM2.5s in particular, get right into people's lungs -
those are the things that would cause premature death through
cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
And it's worth bearing in mind that 64,000 people
are dying prematurely in the UK from breathing polluted air -
64,000.
The best way to limit particulate matter
could be keeping road restrictions
in place long-term.
If commuters take their cars after lockdown,
this type of pollution could bounce back.
In some places, it could even be worse than before.
Peak rush hour traffic in the Chinese city of Shenzhen,
for example, is about 10 per cent
higher than its 2019 baseline.
And congestion has crept up in cities where emergency road
measures no longer apply.
It's a trend that London's Deputy Mayor for Environment
is determined to avoid.
Thank you for joining us, Shirley.
Just to start out with, can you outline
some of the specific steps that are being taken now to help
people get around safely?
Well, you live in London.
So you know the streets here are very narrow.
We don't have lots of space.
So we have to reclaim some of the road space
in order to allow pedestrians to pass each other safely
and to enable people to cycle more safely,
so carving out space on the road for them.
Now these are emergency measures that the mayor
and the local authorities are bringing in
to deal with the situation.
But these are things that we were already
talking about in the mayor's strategy, the environment
strategy, our transport strategy, and so on.
So now we want to see, is there a way
of accelerating the implementation, the retention
of those things, and locking them down
as more permanent features.
That's so interesting.
So what you're saying is that you
do hope that some of these measures become permanent
and stick around.
Yes, definitely.
And what we're being told is since the lockdown
and the reduction in cars, people
can actually visibly see and sort of taste and smell
that there is less air pollution in the air.
And we want that to continue.
And I think we want a car-free recovery, really.
Lockdown has given Londoners the chance
to experience a road network more geared
towards non-drivers.
Similar experiments have been taking place across the globe.
New York City is planning to open up
100 miles of streets for joggers, walkers, and cyclists.
Bogota has added 47 miles of temporary cycle lanes
to its 340 mile network.
The mayor of Paris has set aside 300m
to give bikers more space on the roads.
And Barcelona is reclaiming seven and 1/2
miles of streets for pedestrians over weekends
and adding 13 miles to its cycle network.
All of these measures are being put in place to encourage more
active travel, cycling, walking, or even an e-scooter -
anything to get yourself from A to B without getting
on a crowded bus or train.
Anything except driving, that is.
This is one of the busiest roads into central London.
But about half of it has been given over
to pedestrians with these blue barricades that you see.
Believe it or not this is rush hour.
But there's still plenty of room for people to move around,
even with a camera crew in tow.
The real winners of active travel schemes,
though, are cyclists.
With city streets transformed into cycle ways,
planners hope that millions of trips
will be made on two wheels instead of four,
even after travel restrictions are lifted.
If that happens, transport for London
predicts that cycling in the capital
could increase as much as tenfold in the coming months.
We've seen record usage of the Santander cycle scheme.
We've seen record levels of cycling.
And some huge increases - I think on one weekend,
we saw over 170 per cent increase
in cycling on the counters that we have measuring cycling
in central London.
And I can see that trend continuing on into the future.
But surely not everyone's going to be happy
if road space is given over to cyclists and pedestrians
more permanently.
I mean, have you had any pushback
from delivery truck services or taxi
drivers, people who are used to more driving on London's roads?
I mean, freight is absolutely the lifeblood of London.
It's the thing that delivers all the things that we need.
So it's really important that we're
able to support freight at this time,
to be able to move around.
The same is true, of course, for taxis.
And black taxis, in particular, play an important role
for accessibility.
So it's a constant balance.
And we need to really make sure that the balance is continually
evolving so that people are able to use the bus,
they're able to walk, and they're able to cycle,
and they don't feel the need to be in their private car.
Because clearly, what we don't want to happen
is we don't want to have huge levels of car use
and congestion with all the pollution issues that gives.
Right now, these road closures are emergency measures designed
to help social distancing.
But if residents and city officials
decide to keep them permanently, lockdown
could be the moment that cities around the world
choose cleaner air over the car.