Supreme Court orders Government to take “immediate action” on air pollution – Manchester Friends of the Earth reaction
The Supreme Court today (Wednesday 29th April 2015) ordered the UK Government to develop a new plan to urgently tackle illegal levels of air pollution. (1)
Commenting on the case, which was brought by ClientEarth (2), Manchester Friends of the Earth sustainable transport campaiger Pete Abel said:
“Air pollution kills tens of thousands of people prematurely each year in the UK, and puts extra strain on our beleaguered NHS.
“The Government has now been instructed by the Supreme Court to come up with an urgent action plan to stop people choking on dirty air and end this national disgrace.“It’s time to tackle the main cause of this pollution, which is too much dirty traffic, by encouraging cleaner vehicles and getting more people on to bikes, buses, trains.” (3)
In May 2013, Client Earth won a legal challenge at the Supreme Court which confirmed that the UK Government is in breach of the EU Air Quality Directive leaving the UK open to enforcement action at the national or European level. The UK had failed to meet the 2015 air quality deadline and it was acknowledged that most urban regions and cities, including Manchester would not comply with the EU Air Quality Directive until 2020.
Greater Manchester’s own modeling work paints a similar picture of exceedences beyond 2020 in some areas. (4) In Manchester, the Public Health England website indicates that 5.1% of all adult deaths each year are caused by particulate air pollution (PM2.5).
According to the Government, there are 1,347 deaths a year attributed toair pollution in Greater Manchester (5). When the estimates for the deaths caused by Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) pollution arereleased it is likely that the figure for Greater Manchester will be much higher.Manchester
Friends of the Earth have been involved in a ‘citizen science’ project with the assistance of the Network for Clean Air (6) monitoring the Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels in four areas – Rusholme, Fallowfield, Stockport (St Mary’s Way) and Bradford ward. The monitoring data from the project is available on the Manchester Friends of the Earth website. (7)
Andrew Wood, Co-ordinator Network for Clean Air said:
“According to the Government, there are 1,347 deaths a year attributed to air pollution in Greater Manchester. Most air pollution is from traffic, and we need investment in traffic reduction, zero emission vehicles including buses, and improvements to cycling and walking for better health. An effective air quality plan might include low emission zones, reduced vehicle speeds, congestion charging, a workplace parking levy, retrofitting buses with emission controls, and travel plans for workplaces & schools.”
ENDS
Contacts for comments: Pete Abel, Manchester Friends of the Earth, Mobile: 07951 642858
Andrew Wood, Co-ordinator Network for Clean Air. Mobile: 07973 953 446
Lyndsey Fall, Manchester Friends of the Earth, media officer. Email: lyndsey@manchesterfoe.org.uk
Notes to editors:
1) The UK Government’s existing plans to bring UK levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) within legal limits are not expected to succeed until after 2030 – 20 years after the original 2010 deadline.
In November 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK must have a plan so that the time period before legal requirements are met “is as short as possible”, and that it is the UK courts who can order the Government to produce such a plan:
2) ClientEarth will today call on the Supreme Court to order the Government to produce a new plan which will deliver urgent cuts to the illegal levels of air pollution.
See also: UK Supreme Court orders Government to take “immediate action” on air pollution
3) Transport for Greater Manchester LTP3 Integrated Assessments Annexes. “Road transport is the most significant source of pollution across Greater Manchester for both NOx and PM10, contributing 60.4% and 61.2% of total emissions in 2006 respectively. Emissions from road transport are emitted at ground level unlike the majority of emissions from industrial and combustion sources where the emission point is often from a chimney stack. Consequently, emissions form road transport have a greater direct impact on human health.” www.tfgm.com/ltp3/Documents/In
4) See Greater Manchester Region not meeting UK Laws http://www.greatairmanchester.
5) The 1,347 deaths attributable to air pollution are from particulate pollution – PM2.5 (which is only one form of pollution tht affects human health).
See page 10 – Table 1 – of https://www.gov.uk/government/
The Greater Manchester boroughs shown on page 10 have the following:
Attributable Associated deaths (age 25+) = 1347 per year, made up from the following Greater Mancester metropolitan boroughs: 135 (Bolton) + 96 (Bury) + 219 (Manchester) + 118 (Oldham) + 104 (Rochdale) + 138 (Salford) +152 (Stockport) + 127 (Tameside) + 105 (Trafford) + 153 (Wigan)
6) Network for Clean Air works with people & communities for better air quality and less air pollution. It was established in 2012, and organises citizen science projects. For more information see: www.cleanairuk.org
7) Excel data file available via http://www.manchesterfoe.org.
8) The joint policy asks of the Healthy Air Campaign (HAC) of which Friends of the Earth is a partner are available: http://healthyair.org.uk/
9) 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.
10) 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
