Friends of the Earth reacts to launch of clean air strategy consultation

Press release
The government has today (22 May) launched its clean air strategy for consultation
  Published:  22 May 2018    |      1 minute read

Reacting to the launch of the government’s air quality strategy consultation, Oliver Hayes, clean air campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“Air pollution is estimated to cost the UK £20bn a year in NHS costs and days off sick, so a strategy to save just £1bn annually does not begin to approach the scale of the problem.

“This is supposed to be a strategy to lower air pollution from a wide range of sources, but measures to reduce road traffic are conspicuous by their absence. Road vehicles are a key source of deadly particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide pollution; failure to properly address this shows a fundamental lack of ambition.

“Unfortunately it looks like history repeating itself when it comes to Clean Air Zones: powers handed over to local authorities without the accompanying funds to implement them, despite a welcome widening of their scope beyond just transport.”