Sadiq Khan tries to sell his ULEZ mission to the world after flying 3,500 MILES to New York: Mayor jets across the world for climate summit as he uses speech to call for ‘more powers’ to impose low emission schemes

Sadiq Khan today called for ‘more powers’ to impose controversial ULEZ-style schemes as he boasted about bringing in ‘the world’s largest clean air zone’ in London.

The capital’s Labour mayor used a speech at a climate summit in New York to brag about ‘pushing through’ a dramatic expansion of ULEZ and claimed it was helping to ‘secure the fate of our civilisation’.

But it backfired after critics pointed out that flying 7,000 miles to attend the trip had taken the number of air miles clocked up by him, his deputies and top officials to more than 430,000.

The figure, racked up since he was elected in 2016, is enough to fly around the world 17 times and is estimated to have belched as much as 200 tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

Speaking at the UN Climate Summit this afternoon, Mr Khan called on mayors around the world to bring in similar schemes to his ULEZ, which charges motorists of older, more polluting vehicles £12.50 a day to drive within it.

Sadiq Khan speaking at the UN on Wednesday, as he called for more powers to allow cities to bring in ULEZ-style clean air zones

The deeply unpopular Ultra Low Emission Zone expanded to cover all of London last month

Mr Khan was invited to speak at a UN climate summit in New York as a special guest alongside 34 member states and other guests such as the World Bank

But he made no mention of the potential impact on the environment of his own globe-trotting.

He said: ‘Only last month, London implemented the world’s largest clean air zone. Pushing this through wasn’t easy. But the time for action is now.

READ MORE: ULEZ expansion WON’T help London Mayor Sadiq Khan achieve Net Zero goal by 2030 and will take ‘more than a CENTURY’ to hit targets, experts warn amid backlash to expansion

‘Which is why we’re also investing in green jobs, transport and energy. Charting a course for London to be net-zero – not by 2050, but by the end of this decade.

‘The situation that confronts us today is grave. It’s nothing short of self-harm on a planetary scale. We’re facing an onslaught of floods, droughts and wildfires. Homes are being destroyed, ecosystems vandalised and children forced to breathe toxic air. And it’s the poorest bearing the brunt.’ 

The UK accounts for around 1.32 per cent of global consumption-based emissions.

Mr Khan reaffirmed his commitment to the Paris Agreement and to keeping global warming limited to 1.5C, adding: ‘To all those working to secure the fate of our civilisation, know the cities of the world are with you.

‘We’ll do everything we can to keep the promise of 1.5C alive. And we’ll continue to call on nations to give us more powers and resources to win this fight.

‘We’ll continue to be the climate doers, not the delayers of our time. And continue to champion the cause of climate justice – from the Global North to the Global South – so that we can deliver a safer, fairer and brighter future for all humankind.’ 

Mr Khan used a speech at a climate summit in New York to brag about ‘pushing through’ a dramatic expansion of ULEZ (he is pictured on August 29, 2023)

The London mayor’s deeply unpopular road charge has  seen protests and violence on the city’s streets, with vandals trashing the cameras

Over 500 of the 2,700 static CCTV cameras are now reported either missing or damaged

But he was ridiculed by the Conservatives.

Tory MP Louie French, whose Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency was impacted by last month’s ULEZ expansion to the whole of outer London, said: ‘Famous for the Statue of Liberty, this week New York has seen champagne socialist politicians like Sadiq Khan fly halfway around the world to lecture the public on why illiberal and regressive anti-car policies like ULEZ are needed.

‘Whilst the likes of carers, pensioners and tradesmen struggle with the £12.50 per day – or £4,500 per year – tax to get to work or hospital, the Mayor is living it up in America at whose expense? So much for taking people with you.’ 

Susan Hall, the Tory candidate in London’s mayoral election in May 2024, said: ‘While Sadiq Khan is having a jolly in New York, he is hitting the poorest Londoners with his ULEZ tax grab and plotting even more ways to take money from them.

‘As Mayor, I would deal with the bread and butter issues that matter and put more money back in people’s pockets.’ Mr Khan’s latest New York jaunt alone accounts for around 41,412 of air miles, when the five aides he has taken with him are accounted for.

It comes after his ‘Night Czar’ Amy Lamé – tasked with helping London’s night time economy thrive – jetted off to Sydney in Australia, adding a further 21,146 miles to the total.

Mr Khan’s appearance comes after spoke onstage during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York on September 18

She attended the NEON International Night-Time Economy Forum in May to take part in night time economy policy discussions.

And Rajesh Agrawal, Mr Khan’s deputy for business, jetted off to New Delhi in March.

He went on the jaunt to the Indian capital to attend a four-day ‘trade mission’, adding another 8,382 air miles to the total.

Mr Khan also flew more than 14,000 miles to attend another climate change conference hosted by the C40 World Mayors group in Argentina in October 2022.

He faced criticism for another five-day trip to the United States in May last year in which he was seen schmoozing with James Corden on a rooftop terrace bar in Los Angeles after visiting a cannabis factory. He also posed for photos with Hillary Clinton and was hailed a ‘rock star’ by the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, during the trip.

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