The port city has approved a ban on older diesel models from two major streets. The decision deals a blow to German automakers and the federal government, which had sought to avoid such bans.
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The northern German city of Hamburg on Wednesday announced it will ban older diesel vehicles from some of its streets.
The announcement came amid furious efforts by the German government to avoid diesel cars being banned from cities despite a landmark court ruling allowing the practice.
From May 31, older diesel cars will be banned from two streets.
The ban affects all diesel cars that do not meet Euro-6 emissions standards.
About 168,000 cars registered in Hamburg are affected by the Max-Brauer-Allee ban.
A ban on Stresemannstrasse only affects trucks.
Violation will earn a fine of €25 ($30) for cars and €75 for trucks.
Not far enough
Environmental organization BUND said the ban sends out a "good signal, but not a meaningful one." Spokesman Paul Schmid told DPA news agency: "We need nationwide driving bans that help people, not measuring stations." He said the ban would only divert traffic and harmful nitrogen oxides to other roads.
Battling air pollution through driving bans
Cities around the world are seeking ways to reduce the scourge of smog. German cities are now allowed to ban diesel cars in city centers while other countries provide tempting offers to drivers who leave the car at home.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
Too much traffic makes for bad air
Cities all over the world are fighting against smog. A German court has ruled that cities are allowed to impose driving bans. Many German cities — including Stuttgart, shown here — have developed an air pollution problem and are debating how best to approach the problem.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Murat
Oslo, where the diesel ban is reality
A diesel ban is imposed in the Norwegian capital whenever air pollution levels rise above a prescribed limit. The ban went into effect for the first time on January 17, 2017. Ambulances and other public service vehicles running on diesel are exempt from the measure. The city plans to reduce even more cars by eliminating municipal parking spaces in the center starting in 2019.
Image: Fotolia/nanisimova
Paris is also planning a diesel ban
Starting in 2024, the French capital will ban diesel vehicles; in 2030 it intends to expand the ban to gas-powered cars. Vehicles manufactured before 1997 are already prohibited in the city on weekdays. When air pollution levels exceed prescribed limits, Parisians have to follow a rotation system in which only cars with either even- or odd-numbered plates are allowed to be driven in the city.
Image: Reuters/C. Platiau
London has a congestion charge
If you want to drive into the center of London, a day's ride through the city will cost you 10 pounds ($13.80, €11.20). London introduced the congestion charge in 2003. Automatic number plate recognition is used to enforce the measures. Anyone who does not pay the fee faces a heavy fine of up to 240 pounds.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Copenhagen – the most bike-friendly city in the world
Copenhagen's mayor, Frank Jensen, wants to prevent new diesel cars from entering the city starting in 2019. Currently, over 300 kilometers of roads in the Danish capital can only be used by cyclists. With the new regulations, cycling will become easier, more convenient and cheaper than driving a car. About half of Copenhageners now cycle to work.
Image: picture-alliance/Hans Ringhofe
Pedestrian zones spreading in Madrid
Car-free zones like the square in front of Madrid's Teatro Real are set to become a common sight in the city. Almost the entire center of the Spanish capital will be turned into pedestrian zones in the next five years. Madrid has high smog levels, due to being surrounded by mountains, which cause bad air to get trapped in the city.
Helsinki offers a traffic app
Riding public transport will become even easier in the near future in Helsinki. In the next ten years, a mobility on demand system will be developed to include all forms of public transport in one app, including buses, self-driving cars and minibuses with flexible routes. The goal of the app is to be so good that no one will want to own a car.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/Li Jizhi
Driving electric rickshaws in Delhi
Smog chokes Delhi and levels of air pollution regularly go off the scale. Electric rickshaws will hopefully alleviate the problem. By 2030, all new vehicles will be electrically powered and the city will phase out gas powered vehicles.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Kiran
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Germany's first diesel ban: The ban will make Hamburg the first major German city to block diesel cars from its streets to reign in high level of nitrogen oxide pollution.
European cities are choking on fumes. How can they clean up their act?
Image: picture alliance/empics/C. Radburn
Cutting back on diesel
Germany has launched a scheme to retrofit its diesel public buses with exhaust-scrubbing systems, and introduce charging points to encourage drivers to switch to e-cars. Still, environmentalists say that's not enough. They want all diesel vehicles — including private cars — retrofitted, or taken off the road.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Taking cars off streets
Milan, one of Italy's most polluted cities, has banned cars from its downtown area during certain hours. Other cities in Italy and abroad have experimented with similar schemes, for example permitting only cars with odd or even license plates on the road at given times in order to limit the amount of traffic.
Image: picture alliance/NurPhoto/F. Di Nucci
Free public transport
The Macedonian capital of Skopje is battling with pollution levels up to 15 higher than permitted by the EU — though it's not yet a member state, so isn't facing fines. Macedonia's smog problem is largely down to burning coal and emissions from aging, inefficient industry and vehicles. To get people to leave their dirty old cars at home, the government has introduced free public transport.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/G. Licovski
Sounding the alarm
One street in London exceeded the EU's annual nitrogen dioxide limit on January 30 — less than a month into 2018. Actually, this is an improvement — it's the first time in a decade the British capital has kept within the annual limit for more than six days. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced he wants to alert the city's schools on days when pollution is particularly bad.
Image: picture alliance/empics/C. Radburn
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A wider threat: Germany has been grappling with the possibility of diesel vehicles being banned from city centers after Germany's top administrative court ruled in February that such measures were legal. Cities are struggling to keep their skies within legally acceptable pollution limits and revelations that major automakers were gaming emissions tests have placed their vehicles firmly in the spotlight.
Hands off approach: Germany's ruling coalition has been under pressure from industry and diesel owners to avoid such city bans. One solution that was widely discussed was forcing automakers to retrofit filtering devices to the offending vehicles. But Chancellor Angela Merkel recently ruled out such measures for fear of crippling the important industry.
Why diesel? Diesel engines produce large amounts of nitrogen oxides, which have been linked to 38,000 premature deaths in 2015 worldwide.