The Royal College of Physicians has highlighted the growing evidence of the many health impacts linked to toxic air, even at low concentrations, urging government to act on air pollution as a serious and preventable public health threat.

It reports that the number of patients being treated by GPs for asthma attacks has increased by 45% in just the last year, and more than 500 people a week are killed by breathing air that exceeds safe limits for pollution. Air pollution is a major driver of disease across the life course – from low birth weight and asthma to heart attacks and dementia.

The UK is falling behind Europe in its legal protections on breathing polluted air. I am writing this on a trip to Oslo, a city that has succeeded in improving its air quality in recent years to within safe levels.

On the streets of Norway’s capital, electric cars are becoming the norm. Almost every other car has an ‘E’ for ‘electric’ on its licence plate. This Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country and is about to become the first to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

In 2024, 90% of new cars sold in Norway were EVs. Petrol and diesel car sales are still permitted, but even in northern Norway – with its huge distances, few people and sub-zero winter temperatures – few are choosing to buy them.

Oslo is also the first capital in the world with all-electric public transport – all its buses are electric, it has an impressive tram network, bike lanes are shared by electric bikes and scooters, and it has a modern metro. Even the ferries serving the islands around Oslo are powered by batteries.

Oslo’s fleet of municipal vehicles and vans are electric, as are the ice machines for the skating rinks. Einar Wilhelmsen, finance minister for Oslo, reported: “It’s a new era. We will soon have completely stopped using diesel and petrol. This is actually quite extraordinary.”

He’s right, so what lessons can be applied to the UK? Christina Bu of the Norwegian EV Association attributes Norway’s progress to consistent policies followed through by multiple governments, creating a slow and steady transition path over the last 10-15 years. The target of making all new cars zero emissions by 2025 was supported by all Norwegian parties and in Norway’s proportional, multi-party system which often produces coalition and minority governments, emissions haven’t become politicised, as they have in other countries.

To support this transition, Norwegian petrol stations have replaced many fuel pumps with fast-charging points, and across Norway there are now more than 27,000 public chargers, compared with 75,000 for our much larger population in the UK. Norway doesn’t make its own electric cars. Tesla, VW and Toyota were Norway’s top-selling EVs last year, but new jobs have been created in the charging industry, battery industry and software.

As doctors in the UK call for much greater progress in combating air pollution to protect health, we could follow the lead of our Nordic neighbour.