Berlin has implemented the first of seven planned diesel restrictions, in an attempt to manage its nitrogen dioxide emissions.

The city follows action by other cities in Germany, Hamburg and Darmstadt, which have implemented low emission zones to facilitate compliance with nitrogen dioxide limits. It is likely that additional cities in Germany will implement low emission zones to tackle nitrogen dioxide exceedances. 

Authorities in the city of Warsaw recently revealed a broad range of measures in a drive to improve the city's air quality. The measures were announced by the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, during the Warsaw Climate Conference last month.

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), in 2018, Warsaw ranked as one of the EU capitals with the highest air pollution levels. More than 400,000 premature deaths in the EU I n 2018 resulted from air pollution according to another recent EEA study. 

Bristol is to be the first city in the UK to ban privately-owned diesel vehicles from entering the city centre.

The General Council of Bucharest voted on Thursday 23 October for Mayor Gabriela Firea's plan to introduce a special tax on cars circulating in the Romanian capital that do not comply with Euro 5 pollution standards. The special tax is called the 'Oxygen vignette'.

Since its introduction in April 2019, London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has cut nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution by a third. Quarterly averages from roadside monitors in the UK capital show that levels have fallen by 36% in six months, from 89µg/m3 (January to March) to 57 µg/m3 (July to September).

A report on the zone’s first six months, published by London's City Hall, highlights some more encouraging results in terms of reducing air pollution, namely:

In recent years, many cities around Europe have been introducing low emission zones in order to reduce air pollution, particularly in city centres.

The Mayor of Bucharest, Gabriela Firea, has announced a project which plans to severely restrict access to central Bucharest for polluting cars. The project plans to introduce a tax on cars registered outside of Bucharest and Ilfov county when entering the capital.

The new Finnish Government plans to introduce legislation to allow its cities to introduce road tolls or congestion charges. Until now, cities have not been allowed to apply such charges in Finland, but the new Government's commitments to exploring emission reduction charges, as well as the fact that between 2011-2018 new car registrations in Finland increased by more than the population did, has led to a change in the previous view.

Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, is currently exploring how to use low-emission zones to tackle air pollution from transport.

Creation of the low-emission zones is part of an addendum to the city’s statute, which councillors approved on 27 June 2019.

The city council has stressed that Bratislava's seventeen individual boroughs will have the authority to introduce low-emission zones according to local needs - as well as determining the size of the zones.