Will the UK Government Face a Legal Challenge Over Air Pollution?

After consistently failing to comply with legal limits imposed by the European Union (EU), the UK government has been issued with a final letter of warning by campaign law group ClientEarth. In the letter, the group warn environment secretary Liz Truss that she must take immediate action or run the risk of further legal challenges.

The letter was issued on 1^st March, meaning that the deadline for action expired several days ago. As yet, the government has done little to indicate it intends to improve air quality and reduce the transport-related pollution which has plagued London for the last decades.

Consistently Breaking Limits

The city of London in particular has been guilty of exceeding legal limits of harmful pollutants for at least the last five years. After winning a Supreme Court judgment against the UK government, ClientEarth filed another court order with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in July of 2014, demanding that the government address the seriously poor air quality in the capital and beyond.

Then, in May of the following year, won another court case against the government, with the court’s president Lord Neuberger stating that “the government must prepare and consult on new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission no later than December 2015”.

These plans were announced at the close of last year but fell far short of satisfying environmentalists. They proposed the introduction of clean air initiatives in five major cities across the UK, coming into force in 2020 and only applying to buses, trucks and other large vehicles, as well as taxis. However, privately-owned passenger cars, which make up the bulk of British traffic, are exempt.

Immediate Action is Needed

The head of ClientEarth, James Thornton, has branded the government’s plans “woefully short” and points to a recent report from the Royal College of Physicians which estimates that 40,000 people a year die from poor air quality across the nation.     

“Despite an order from the UK’s highest court, despite tens of thousands of premature deaths in this country every year and despite clear evidence to show that air pollution has a terrible effect on the health of vulnerable groups like children, the government has consistently ducked its responsibility to ensure our right to clean air,” explained Thornton. “We have had to issue this legal warning to the government because of its failure to produce a plan that would bring air pollution down as soon as possible.”

Despite the existence of such conventions as the Air Quality and Emissions Show (AQE), which aims to find innovative ways to curb harmful pollution levels, the government has been very reluctant to take up new measures. Not only is their negligence causing thousands of premature deaths but also costing the UK millions of pounds in fees and fines, thus making their inertia inexcusable in the eyes of many.