Leonardo DiCaprio supports the decision of the mayor of the city, Sadiq Khan, to expand Ulez

The Oscar-winning actor described the goodness of the mayor for Get in widening – effectively bringing it to the M25 on August 29 next year – as “large-scale decisive action” needed to tackle climate change.

In a Facebook post he shared with his 19 million followers, DiCaprio wrote: “London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to extend his flagship air quality policy, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), will mean five million people breathe more clean air and help build a better, greener and fairer London for everyone.

“These are the large-scale, decisive actions we need to halve emissions this decade, combined with the implementation of natural solutions.

“Ulez expansion will reduce the number of Londoners living in areas that exceed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) provisional targets for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 13 per cent – including children in 145 schools.”

DiCaprio, whose films include Titanic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Lifeguard, for which he won an Oscar, had nearly 800 likes by Thursday morning.

He met Mr Khan last year at the COP26 summit in Glasgow and has previously used social media to support the mayor’s initiatives.

In 2019, he congratulated Mr Khan on the launch of Ulez in central London. At the time, DiCaprio said, “Clean air is a human right.”

The Ulez extension from the North and South Ring Roads to the Greater London border is expected to generate £200m in the first 12 months for Transport for London, TfL’s finance chiefs have told the Standard.

TfL published its draft business plan on Thursday, setting out expected revenue and costs for the next three years.

Mr Khan’s decision to extend Ulez for a second time came despite the majority of respondents to a TfL consultation saying they opposed the plans.

Mr Khan said the consultation had been “hijacked” by advocacy groups for motorists outside London and said action was needed to improve air quality in the suburbs.

Drivers whose vehicles that do not comply with emissions regulations will have to pay a charge of £12.50 per day.