Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah who died from dangerous levels of air pollution in 2013
(Picture: PA Media)Environment Secretary Therese Coffey was accused on Friday of “betraying tens of thousands of children” in London and across Britain by failing to match EU proposed standards to tackle toxic air.
She announced a set of new eco targets including on cutting down levels of tiny PM2.5 particulate pollution which scientists say is particularly harmful to human health as it can seep deep into the lungs and heart system.
The Government has set an annual mean concentration target for PM2.5 levels in England to be 10 µg m-3 or below by 2040.
However, the European Commission is proposing achieving this ten years earlier in 2030, an aim that was backed by the UK Government’s own watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection.
The weaker UK target comes despite ministers vowing not to water down environmental standards after Brexit.
Responding to the announcement, Simon Birkett, founder of Clean Air in London, said: “The Government has betrayed tens of thousands of children and other people whose health will be adversely affected by this decision for many years to come.
“Air pollution is the largest environmental health risk and it’s inexcusable that the Government is setting such a weak target.”
Andrea Lee, clean air campaigner at environmental law charity ClientEarth which has previously forced the Government to act on toxic air through court action, said: “After months of dithering on its supposedly ‘world-leading’ targets, the Government is announcing an air pollution reduction goal with a deadline of 2040 – that’s a shocking 18 years away.
“Meanwhile, another generation of children will be exposed to toxic pollution far above what the world’s top scientists think is acceptable.” Ministers have defended the 2040 target, insisting that it must be achievable for all parts of the country.
Speaking at the UN biodiversity convention in Montreal on Friday, Ms Coffey said: “We are committed to leaving our natural world in a better state for future generations, and today we are laying the foundations that will help deliver on this commitment.
“These targets are ambitious and will be challenging to achieve – but they will drive our efforts to restore our natural environment, protect our much-loved landscapes and green spaces and marine environment, as well as help tackle climate change.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “An earlier target of 2030 would have meant significant restrictions and costs on businesses and people’s lives, which we do not believe is fair or reasonable at this time. It would also require levels of technological innovation to develop much quicker than could reasonably be expected.
“However we fully recognise the seriousness of PM2.5 – which is why the Government has already provided nearly £7 million in grants since 2017 to improve air quality in London, and we are supporting the capital’s councils in implementing their local plans to further drive down pollution levels.”
Other targets are to halt the decline in species populations by 2030, to restore “precious water bodies” to their natural state by reducing “harmful pollution” from sewers, to halve the waste per person that is sent to residual treatment by 2042, and to restore 70 per cent of “designated features in Marine Protected Areas to a “favourable condition” by 2042.
However, the Government is also facing a clash in the Commons as MPs seek to force it to accept “Ella’s Law” which would bring in the PM2.5 air pollution 2030 target and make breathing clean air a human right.
Green MP Caroline Lucas is championing the proposed new legislation in the Commons after it passed all its legislative stages in the Lords
The bill is named after Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah, a nine-year-old girl who died following an asthma attack in 2013.
Ella, who lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London, became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.
