Government air quality plans “woefully inadequate” with a “breath-taking lack of detail” – says Friends of the Earth
The government’s draft Air Quality Plan has been branded “woefully inadequate” and won’t deliver clean air for all Friends of the Earth warned today (5 May 2017) as they call on manufacturers to foot more of the bill.
The government’s draft Air Quality Plan released today is short on detail and appears to push responsibility to deliver clean air to local councils without offering adequate resources. Even the much anticipated scrappage scheme will be “targeted”, “limited in scope” and only considered if it could be shown to provide “value for money”.
The environmental charity is instead calling on manufacturers to foot the bill for a national diesel scrappage scheme. Companies have been found to be cheating emissions tests and knowingly producing cars which emitted higher pollution levels when in real world driving conditions. The role they played in putting polluting vehicles on our roads, means that they should help to clean up the mess, argues Friends of the Earth. A scrappage scheme is needed to help people move away from the most polluting vehicles.
The government was mandated to produce a draft Air Quality Plan for the UK, after it was twice taken to court over the illegal levels of pollution in the country. Court action followed the UK’s consistent failure to comply with legal limits for the deadly gas NO2. Air pollution leads to 40,000 early deaths each year in the UK.
Oliver Hayes, Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said:
“The government has produced a plan that is woefully inadequate, with a breath-taking lack of detail.
“If reports are true and these plans have been watered down because of the general election, ministers will have shown a shocking disregard for protecting people’s health.
“Every day of inaction on air pollution costs lives. This is an exceptionally poor plan. The government must not put politics above people.”
On Clean Air Zones, Oliver Hayes, said:
“The most effective way to protect people from toxic fumes would be to have robust Clean Air Zones everywhere where there is illegal levels of pollution. Tasking local authorities to implement these zones only after exploring a range of other measures is spectacularly wrong-headed.”
On a diesel scrappage scheme, Oliver Hayes, said:
“A scrappage scheme to get the worst polluting diesel vehicles off our roads is desperately needed, and it is a missed opportunity to only consult on a “limited in scope”, “targeted” scheme. Manufacturers, who have done so much to cause the air pollution problem, should be paying the price for a national scheme, not the tax payer.”
ENDS
Editor’s notes:
- Friends of the Earth is calling on political parties to commit to cleaning up air pollution in their manifestos to protect our nation’s lungs. They must: end illegal levels of air pollution by 2018, phase out diesel by 2025, and put the UK on a path to meet World Health Organisation air quality standards.
- Friends of the Earth has set out its plan for clean air everywhere and is calling for the Air Quality Plan to include:
- A plan to end illegal pollution in 2018
- A diesel scrappage scheme to help people shift to clean vehicles
- Changes to road tax to deter diesel use
- A comprehensive network of plug-in points for electric vehicles by 2025
- Huge investment in public transport, walking and cycling routes
- A new Clean Air Act for the whole country to curb all types of air pollution
For press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.
Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
