Can You Sue for the Effects of Pollution?

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 80% of urban dwellers are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution, and poor air quality accounts for roughly seven million premature deaths each year. Despite these alarming statistics, many people feel that governments and corporations are doing enough to address the problem.

What can the individual do, in the face of such widespread apathy? Take them to court! That’s the approach taken by one disgruntled Frenchwoman, who blames her deteriorating health condition on the poor standard of air in Paris.

The city of love, lights… and smog

France has been battling air quality issues for several years now. It’s thought that fine-article pollution claims the lives of 48,000 people throughout the country every year – a slightly higher figure than the 40,000 affected in the UK.

However, it’s the French capital which suffers the most. Last December, matters came to a head when the city endured its worst pollution levels in a decade, prompting ministers to make public transport free in a bid to encourage its use.

However, critics have said such schemes do not go far enough to improve air quality and reduce transport-related pollution and one yoga teacher in particular is taking the government to task over their perceived inability to act.

Demanding justice

56-year-old Clotilde Nonnez has lived in the French capital for 30 years – over half her life. Throughout that time, she has led a very healthy lifestyle, working first as a dancer and then later as a yoga teacher, but the ever-worsening levels of pollution in the city have had a detrimental effect on her health.

“The doctor treating me says Paris air is so polluted that we're breathing rotten air,” explained Ms Nonnez, who has been diagnosed with a variety of respiratory complications, including asthma, pneumonia and most recently, an attack of acute pericarditis. “She has other patients like me, including children and babies too. My cardiologist says the same.”

Ms Nonnez’s lawyer has indicated that this Parisian lawsuit is just the first of many. François Lafforgue said he expected other cases to be raised in Lille, Lyon and other locations around France in the coming weeks.

Are the French authorities doing enough?

While it can’t be denied that France (and Paris in particular) suffers from terrible levels of air pollution, the government have attempted to make inroads on the problem.

Earlier this year, the Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo unveiled the Crit'Air sticker scheme, which requires all vehicles driving into the centre of the city to wear a badge denoting the level of emissions they bring with them. The stickers cost a nominal fee (€4) but failure to obtain one could incur a fine of up to €135. On particularly polluted days, older vehicles could also be refused entry to the inner city limits.

Whether or not such schemes will be deemed satisfactory in the eyes of the law remains to be seen, but Ms Nonnez has set a precedent in holding the French government to account over their inability to act. With the Conservatives having been taken to court three times by environmental law firm ClientEarth, a private UK lawsuit may well be on the horizon, as well.