Section:GDN 1N PaGe:15 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 19:02 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Monday 12 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
National^15
‘Gamechanger’ Greta Thunberg The 16-year-old
climate emergency activist is to be named “gamechanger
of the year” at the GQ men of the year awards next
month. “Her fearless dedication to raising awareness of
the global climate change crisis makes her the absolute
embodiment of this award,” said Dylan Jones, the magazine’s
editor. “ We couldn’t be prouder to celebrate her.”PHOTOGRAPH:
CHRISTOPHER HUNT/
GQ MAGAZINE /PAGive citizens a cut
of fi nes for idling
cars – thinktank
Damian Carrington
Environment editor
Vehicle fuel taxes should be increased
to combat the air pollution crisis in the
UK, with an extra charge on diesel,
according to the conservative think-
tank Bright Blue.
A report calls for VAT on electric
cars to be abolished and for citizens
to be able to report idling vehicles and
receive a share of fi nes levied.
It also suggests cutting the speed
limit in all urban areas from 30mph
to 20mph and allowing local authori-
ties to profi t from pollution-charging
schemes to fund clean -air projects.
Most urban areas in the UK have
illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 )
pollution , mainly from vehicles. While
Britain’s particulate levels are legal ,
they are above World Health Organ-
ization guidelines, which Bright Blue
said should be the UK’s targets.
Polling for the thinktank showed
70% of people in the UK are concerned
about air pollution and want the gov-
ernment to take action.
Dirty air causes 40,000 early deaths
a year in the UK, and in 2016 a commit-
tee of MPs called the problem a “ public
health emergency ”. The damage to
lungs and hearts is well established
but the latest research shows air pol-
lution may be damaging every organ
and virtually every cell in the body.
Government plans to cut NO 2 pollu-
tion were declared illegally inadequate
by the high court on three occasions
and the former environment secretary
Michael Gove recently admitted that
the UK “failed to properly live up to
our obligations to improve air quality”.
Ryan Shorthouse, Bright Blue’s
chief executive , said: “ Evidence of
the scale and impact of air pollution
is growing and alarming.
“As the UK leaves the EU, there is a
need and an opportunity to improve
legislation, policies and accountability
around air quality. Despite the rheto-
ric from the government, not enough
is being done to tackle NO 2 .”
The Bright Blue report said the
freeze on fuel duty rises since 2010
should end. The freeze has saved
motorists about £6bn but is estimated
to have increased traffi c by 4%, and
therefore pollution. Diesel, which
produces most NO 2 , should have an
additional tax on top, the report says.
Diesel cars are charged more vehi-
cle excise duty than petrol cars only
in their fi rst year but the diff erence
should be permanent, Bright Blue
sa id. It add ed that VAT should not be
charged on electric cars to restore their
appeal after recent cuts in subsidies.
The most striking proposal is that
citizens who report idling vehicles
should get a share of the fi ne. In New
York , citizens get 25% of fi nes levied on
buses or lorries caught idling for more
than a minute outside schools or three
minutes elsewhere. The fi nes range
from $100 to $2,000 (£83 to £1,650) and
Bright Blue sa id the policy in the UK
should be expanded to include cars.
Bright Blue said the 20mph limit
should be implemented in all urban
areas, with research indicating it could
cut NO 2 pollution by 25%-32%.
Charging polluting vehicles to enter
cities, as in London, is a highly eff ec-
tive way of cutting pollution. Bright
Blue suggests local authorities should
be able to make “reasonable profi ts”
from clean air zones to fund electric
charging points , scrappage schemes
for old cars, and public transport.
Simon Alcock from ClientEarth , the
environmental law fi rm that defeated
UK ministers in court, said: “This
report is hugely welcome and shows
the public want greater ambition from
the government on air pollution.
“The government needs to make
WHO guidelines legally binding by
2030, help people – especially those on
low incomes – move to cleaner forms of
transport and start treating air pollu-
tion in this country as the public health
crisis and consumer scandal that it is.”
A government spokesman said: “We
know the impact air pollution has on
communities around the UK, which is
why we are stepping up the pace and
taking urgent action [with] our £3.5bn
Clean Air Strategy .”‘Hey Google. How much do
I have in my bank account?’
Patrick Collinson
NatWest is to begin voice-only bank-
ing that will give customers direct
access to their accounts by talking to
the Google Home smart speakers now
in millions of British homes.
The trial – the fi rst by a British high
street bank – will let customers ask
Google: “What’s my balance?”, “What
are my latest transactions?” and “What
are my pending transactions”. Google
devices will speak the answer and also
display it on the customer’s phone.
While only basic account infor-
mation will be available under the
trial, NatWest said the technology may
in future allow customers to instantly
transfer money and pay bills.
To access their account, NatWest
customers will have to say out loud
two digits from a new four-digit pass-
word, in a move that will raise fresh
fears about security and privacy.
Last month, it emerged that Google
contractors were able to listen to
recordings of what people say to the
company’s artifi cial intelligence sys-
tem, Google Assistant.
NatWest said customers wouldonly be able to ask Google after set-
ting up voice banking through their
existing online banking password and
then obtaining a new four-digit voice
pin diff erent from their debit card
pin. It added that Google would not
store the customer’s ultimate bank-
ing password. The trial will only run
over Google devices, not Alexa or Siri.
The bank admitted some custom-
ers may be put off by the p ossibility
of people overhearing account details.
David Emm, an internet security
specialist at Kaspersky Lab, said: “If
people are able to carry out banking
transactions using a smart speaker, it
not only raises the issue of someone
recording your voice and spoofi ng a
transaction, but also the risk thatrecordings stored by the vendor
of the device could be stolen by
cybercriminals.”
NatWest said a mass roll out of voice
banking would go ahead only after
evaluation of the three-month trial,
involving 500 customers.
Kristen Bennie, head of Open Expe-
rience at NatWest, said voice banking
could “ change how customers manage
their fi nances in the same way mobile
banking made a huge impact ”.
The technology would allow cus-
tomers to multi task and would benefi t
disabled or blind customers.
There are now an estimated 9.6m
Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
devices in UK homes, a fi gure pro-
jected to top 12m this year.Google Home speaker s
are part of NatWest’s testРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS