EU targets UK over illegal traffic pollution

The European Commission has today (20 February) launched legal action against the UK government for failing to protect people’s health from harmful air pollution. The UK government must either take action to reduce levels of carcinogenic diesel fumes, or face a legal process that could result in significant fines. 

The Commission was spurred into action by the UK Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in a case brought by ClientEarth. In May last year, the Supreme Court declared that the UK is in breach of the EU Air Quality Directive and “the way is open to immediate enforcement action at national or European level”.

Air pollution causes 29,000 early deaths per year in the UK – more than twice as many per year as were caused by passive smoking before the ban. The World Health Organization has confirmed that air pollution causes cancer. Poor air quality also causes heart attacks and children living near busy roads in the UK have been shown to grow up with under-developed lungs.

ClientEarth Chief Executive James Thornton said:  “We have the right to breathe clean air and the government has a legal duty to protect us from air pollution. The Commission has singled out the UK following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last year. The UK has some of the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide in Europe.”

“If Owen Paterson wants to avoid another disaster for his department he will need an ambitious plan to protect people from deadly diesel fumes. We need a national network of low emission zones to save lives and make the UK a world leader in clean transport."

Both the Commission’s and ClientEarth’s cases concern 16 cities and regions (including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow) which government plans show will suffer from illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide - a toxic gas - until as late as 2020. In the case of London, legal levels won’t be reached until 2025.

The Commission’s case against the UK will move forward following the European Court of Justice’s judgment in the ClientEarth case - expected later this year.

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