What is the Breathe Better Together Campaign?

London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched a new campaign, aimed at encouraging the public to reduce air pollution. The campaign will give tips and advice on how people can reduce their air pollution in their local area.

How can people get information?

Breathe Better Together will have a number of ways the public can receive helpful information. There will be free email sign-ups available and posters will be situated around London Transport. Adverts will be broadcast over the radio, and in addition, schools and businesses will be encouraged to attend air pollution seminars.

What can the public do?

The campaign has a number of ways that the public can reduce their own air pollution:

• Parents can walk their children to school
• Drivers can turn off car engines whilst stationary
• People can use more public transport or bicycles to get to work

At the campaign launch, the Mayor said: “This is about promoting small simple steps we can all make to help improve air quality, protect ourselves from pollutants and indeed breathe better together.”

Why is good air quality so important?

Public Health England (PHE) regional director Dr Yvonne Doyle explains the health implications of poor air quality: “Air quality plays a vital role in the health and wellbeing of Londoners. The major effect of long term exposure to air pollution is on deaths from cardiorespiratory disease and it is likely that air pollution acts as a contributory factor, along with many others, including smoking and lack of physical activity.”

The Mayor launched the campaign at Norbury Manor Primary School in South London, where, four months ago, an air quality monitor had been installed. The children at the school had also been learning about the importance of air quality. When the Mayor arrived they were testing their lung functions.

How does poor air quality affect children?

Research has shown that poor air quality stunts the growth of children’s lungs. Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University, said: “By the time anything happens [action on pollution] their [children’s] lungs will have been damaged and they will not have obtained their maximum growth potential.”

For more information on this topic, read this news story: Young People 'at Risk' from London's Smog Problem.

Should the Mayor do more?

The Mayor has been severely criticised for failing to improve London’s air quality, and for some experts, this campaign simply does not go far enough. They may have a point; when you consider that new research has shown London’s Oxford Street to have the highest levels of NO2 in the world.

In fact, one of the busiest roads in the City of Westminster and an ever-popular destination for shoppers and tourists alike, London's Oxford Street breached its legal limit for air pollution per annum in just the first four days of this year. You can read all about this in: Why is Air Pollution in London's Oxford Street so Bad?

Johnson had previously promised ‘an electric car revolution’ in London and intended to clean up the London buses, but so far this has not happened. At least this campaign is a start to a cleaner capital city.

The campaign is being funded by several London councils, including Camden and Islington, and Defra’s national air quality grants programme.