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Protests at emergency air pollution meeting as UK on verge of ECJ lawsuit

Publication date: 30th January 2018

This morning Greenpeace volunteers protested outside a closed-door emergency meeting called by EU Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, in Brussels. See photos.

 

Greenpeace activists, with body-painted lungs on their chest in front of the EU Commission building, demand “Clean Air Now” and protest against the lack of credible action against harmful air pollution in European countries.

 

The emergency meeting was called to provide a ‘last opportunity’ for countries, including the UK, to show the steps being taken to redress breaches of legal air pollution limits, otherwise the Commission has stated it will make a referral to the European Court of Justice.

The meeting comes one week after Gove’s department attended London’s High Court to respond to a legal challenge to its national air quality plan, which has been widely branded as inadequate.

Greenpeace understands that despite being called by the Commission to attend, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has delegated responsibility to Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey.

Rosie Rogers, Head of Greenpeace UK’s Clean Air Campaign, said:

“It’s not a good look when a government that promised environmental leadership has to be chivvied by Brussels into doing something about illegal air pollution. Michael Gove promised to make cleaning up our cities’ air a top priority but has little to show for it as yet.

“After missing the opportunity in its 25 Year Plan, the Government must use its Clean Air Strategy to take concrete action. Diesel vehicles are a major source of pollution, so the Government should bring forwards the phase-out date by at least a decade to 2030, and fund the roll out of more clean air zones which are shown to be effective in reducing pollution.”

The impact of air pollution is particularly acute for children. High exposure to polluted air at a young age can cause chronic health problems that last a lifetime, with research showing negative effects for lung function, respiratory issues like asthma and even stunted lung growth. [1]

Levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide air pollution in the UK has broken EU limits every year since 2010 – and diesel vehicles are responsible for 90% of toxic NOx coming from roads. In total, the health impacts of air pollution in the UK are estimated to cost the UK more than £20 billion every year.

In 2017, the European Commission warned five countries, namely Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, of imminent court action over continuous breaches of EU standards on NOx, in place since 2010.

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Contact press.uk@greenpeace.org or call 07896893154

For photos see, http://media.greenpeace.org/shoot/27MZIFJXESDQA

References:

[1]: For further research on the links between air pollution and respiratory problems in children, see: