Green group calls on GM mayor candidates to support Clean Air Act fit for the 21st Century

Manchester Friends of the Earth is calling on all the Greater Manchester mayoral candidates to pledge their support for a new Clean Air Act fit for the 21st Century.(1)

A coalition of health, environment, transport and other groups including  Friends of the Earth has launched today (15 February) to encourage the UK Government to take “urgent action” on air pollution through the creation of a new Clean Air Act. (2).

The existing Clean Air Act was introduced over 60 years ago and the UK needs a new Act to tackle the sources of modern air pollution, accelerate the shift to zero-emissions transport, make the UK a world leader in clean technology, and improve existing laws to ensure that we enshrine the right to breathe clean air in law.

Air pollution in the UK harms our health and it is estimated that it causes 40,000 premature deaths every year. (3)   In Greater Manchester, it has been estimated that air pollution causes nearly 2000 premature deaths each year. (4) The air we inhale on the way to work, school and in our neighbourhoods has levels of pollution above EU legal limits for the toxic gas Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂).

With the government saying that road traffic is the biggest threat, and with diesel vehicles being the worst of all (5)], we need bold, urgent action including Clean Air Zones around the country including one for Manchester

Colette Humphrey, Manchester Friends of the Earth campaigner said: “we need urgent action to tackle this public health crisis and clean up Greater Manchester’s illegal filthy air. We need the Government to provide funding for Clean Air Zones for all vehicle types, by 2018 to bring air pollution within legal limits.”

“We are asking all the Greater Manchester mayoral candidates to join the growing number of city leaders calling on the Government to introduce a new Clean Air Act fit for the 21^st Century.”
New research has revealed that 58% of the British public now believe that current levels of air pollution in the UK are harmful or very harmful to public health. The poll, conducted by YouGov, found that 65% would support a new Clean Air Act to tackle the issue. (6)

ENDS

Contact:  Pete Abel, Manchester Friends of the Earth. Mobile: 07951 642858
Notes for editors

(1) 5 UK city leaders – London, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham and Derby – last week (10 February) called for the Government to introduce a Clean Air Act

(2) The full list of coalition members includes: British Lung Foundation, Campaign for Better Transport, Chartered Institute Water and Environmental Management, Clean Air in London, ClientEarth, Cycling UK, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Leeds Tidal, Living Streets, London Cycling Campaign, London Sustainability Exchange, MedAct, National Union of Students, Purpose Climate Lab, Royal College of Physicians, Sustrans, UK100.

(3) Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution. Report from the Royal College of Physicians and the RCPCH examines the impact of exposure to air pollution across the course of a lifetime.

(4) Adjusted for population this could mean that more than 2,000 premature deaths in Greater Manchester each year.

(5) Road transport is now the biggest threat according to the government and the most recent “Euro 6 diesel cars emit more than five times as much NOx as Euro 6 petrol cars”, according to Policy Exchange.

(6) The study, undertaken by YouGov, was commissioned by the environmental law organisation ClientEarth on behalf of the campaign for a new Clean Air Act.

(7) Manchester Friends of the Earth is an award-winning environmental campaign group, raising awareness and lobbying for policy changes at a local, regional, national and international level. The group consists entirely of volunteers, and its campaigns are funded by membership fees and individual donations. Up-to-date information is available on the group’s website: www.manchesterfoe.org.uk . Manchester Friends of the Earth is a Licensed Local Group of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

(8) Manchester Friends of the Earth has endorsed Manchester: A Certain Future, an action plan for the city of Manchester to cut its carbon emissions by at least 41% by 2020. For more information, visit www.manchesterclimate.com