Major cities ban diesel engines

Diesel's days are numbered in four major cities set to ban motorists from driving diesel-fuelled vehicles by 2025.

The mayors of Maris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico City agreed to block diesel-powered vehicles at a mayoral summit held in Mexico in December.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the decision was taken to improve the health of millions of people in densely populated areas.

"Mayors have already stood up to say that the climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face," she says.

"Today, we also stand up to say we no longer tolerate air pollution and the health problems and deaths it causes - particularly for our most vulnerable citizens. Big problems like air pollution require bold action, and we call on car and bus manufacturers to join us."

The move comes as Paris banned some cars from driving on local roads on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during a period of peak air pollution.

Paris is sending colour-coded stickers to all vehicles that indicate a car's age and pollution level. Police will then control which cars can and cannot enter the city, based on a vehicle's emissions.  

Cars made before 1997 will be banned from entering Paris from July 1, 2017. The city has also increased the cost of parking, cancelled free parking on Saturdays and holidays, and is set to transform some roads into parkland.

Paris isn't alone in its drive to push cars out of cities - Athens mayor Giorgos Kaminis also hopes to remove all vehicles from the centre of the Greek capital in years to come. Madrid and Oslo are also moving in that direction, as is Sydney's CBD.

Helena Molin Vald?s, head of the World Health Organisation and United Nations Climate and Clean Air Coalition, says 92 per cent of the world's population live in places where air pollution levels exceed safe levels.

"Soot from diesel vehicles are amongst the big contributors to ill health and global warming," she says.

 "By working with C40 cities and other partners, we can help cities work together, identify and implement the most effective solutions to rapidly improve air quality and achieve the BreatheLife goal to halve deaths from air pollution by 2030."

        - with Reuters