Blue Sky Recovery – How to keep lockdown low levels of air pollution in European cities

This report uses the latest research on mobility trends to chart the changes in urban mobility needed for a rapid but realistic return and lock-in of the record low air pollution levels of March and April 2020. The analysis investigates the two most common strategies applied across Europe to clean up mobility: On the one hand, a roll-out of zero-emission vehicles whose sales surged across Europe in 2020 with Europe surpassing China for the first time; on the other a wider overhaul of mobility relying also on a switch to active travel, public transport and teleworking. The results are presented in terms of percentage switch from fossil fuel transport to zero-mission vehicles and mobility; metrics designed to allow policymakers to adjust their mobility strategies, city budgets and investment programmes.