Glasgow's Low Emission Zone

That the Parliament welcomes the next phase of the Low Emission Zone in Glasgow with enforcement having begun on 1 June 2023; notes that the first phase of the Low Emission Zone began in 2018 for buses in the city centre of Glasgow, and understands that, since then, there has been a reduction in air pollution levels, particularly in some of Glasgow’s most polluted streets; welcomes reports that, in 2022, Scotland did not breach legal air pollution limits for the first time, with the exclusion of the impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown; understands that low emission zones are a public health response to air pollution, which causes and exacerbates conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but that they must be part of a suite of measures to improve air quality in city centres and across Scotland as there is no safe level of air pollution; further understands that surveying by Asthma + Lung UK Scotland found that 63% of people in Glasgow who are living with a lung condition said that air pollution is a trigger for their condition; believes that air pollution can be attributed to around 2,500 premature deaths each year in Scotland, and congratulates charities and third sector groups, such as Asthma + Lung UK Scotland and Friends of the Earth Scotland, on campaigning to improve Scotland’s air quality.