Campaigner of the Year

Dr Kush Kanodia – Eco Ableism – Disability Discrimination from London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ)

@kushkanodia

Climate action must go hand in hand with climate justice and social justice to stem the tide of growing poverty and inequality in our society.

The Campaign

Kush’s campaign focused on creating reasonable adjustments for disabled people in London’s ULEZ scheme. He says ULEZ was having a ‘brutal’ impact on disabled Londoners, with daily charges of £12.50 on older and more polluting vehicles.

ULEZ was introduced to inner London in October 2021, during the height of the pandemic, and, according to the campaign, without adequate reasonable adjustments for disabled people. It was then expanded to Greater London from August 2023. Disabled people had already been the some of the most disproportionately impacted groups from austerity, a pandemic, and the current cost-of-living crisis.

With only a third of London’s tube stations accessible, many disabled people have no choice but to drive to access critical goods, services, and health and social care. There are significant additional costs for compliant and adapted vehicles.

Both clean air and accessible environments are fundamental human rights, and access to transportation is a key enabler for disabled people to fully participate as citizens in our society.

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Sponsored by Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (Need to add in logo) Seek to bring about significant changes in the political system, making it more accountable, democratic and transparent and to rebalance power for the well-being of society. www.jrrt.org.uk
make care work poster - a yellow background with yellow hand-drawn flowers and pink text saying ‘Make care work’ and ‘The Care Experienced Movement’ and their logo of an x in a c in pink at the bottom of the poster

Dr Kush Kanodia with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and the Inclusion London’s Campaigns and Justice Team, Laura Vicinanza and Svetlana Kotova

It’s an honour to be recognised by SMK for championing disability inclusion across Greater London and the NHS England. These are the most significant disability inclusion policy changes in the UK during the pandemic and cost of living crisis! Together, let’s build a society that is fairer, greener, accessible & inclusive for us all to thrive…”

Dr Kush Kanodia

make care work poster - a yellow background with yellow hand-drawn flowers and pink text saying ‘Make care work’ and ‘The Care Experienced Movement’ and their logo of an x in a c in pink at the bottom of the poster

Dr Kush Kanodia with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and the Inclusion London’s Campaigns and Justice Team, Laura Vicinanza and Svetlana Kotova

It’s an honour to be recognised by SMK for championing disability inclusion across Greater London and the NHS England. These are the most significant disability inclusion policy changes in the UK during the pandemic and cost of living crisis! Together, let’s build a society that is fairer, greener, accessible & inclusive for us all to thrive…”

Dr Kush Kanodia

The Change

Dr Kush Kanodia started and led the campaign that transformed London’s ULEZ, partnering with Inclusion London and many Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations. They included Action for Disability Kensington & Chelsea, the City of London’s Access Group, and Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Mobility Forum.

London’s ULEZ policy changes translate to:

  • Over 0.25 million disabled people can now be exempt (DWP Benefits included)
  • Expanding grants from £2K to £10K (wheelchair accessible vehicles)
  • Exemptions for carers and an expansion of the grace period to 2027.

Dr Kush Kanodia is described by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as a “passionate disability rights champion” who has “made a massive difference to the lives of disabled people in London”.

He previously campaigned to abolish all disabled car parking charges at over 200 NHS trust hospitals in England and supported over 2.5 million disabled blue badge holders in England to access critical healthcare. Kent University stated: “This is by some margin the single largest and most impactful change in the treatment of disabled people in the history of the NHS.

The Future

Unfortunately, disabled Blue Badge holders (a quarter of a million in London) who have significant mobility impairments are still not exempt from ULEZ and both Bristol and Birmingham have now created their own Clean Air Zones (CAZ), replicating the original disability discrimination from London.

Dr Kanodia advised the UK Government on their Disability Action Plan policy paper’s recommendations and actions. In the section on including disabled people’s needs in climate-related policies, the Government has committed to ‘explore how to ensure that ULEZ and CAZ better consider the needs of disabled people’. He said:

“UK Government must now implement their Disability Action Plan, creating a standardised policy in England and support the Levelling Up of disabled people in 2024!”

Who else was involved?

No person can transform a system by themselves, it has to be from a Me to a We:
• Tripti Lapham & Dr Alia Kawalit
• Inclusion London & Action for Disability Kensington & Chelsea
• Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Mobility Forum & City of London’s Access Group
• Kent University & Kent Business School
• On Purpose & Operation Black Vote

Many, many more people and organisations, thank you to you all…