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

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.”