Six in ten living in areas with high air pollution levels

Analysis of official figures has shown that almost 60 per cent of people in England are living in areas where levels of toxic air pollution exceeded legal limits last year.

Legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were broken in 142 local authorities in 2019, potentially affecting as many as 33 million people in total. This includes groups particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, including seven million children and 5.5 million people over 65 years old.

Labour, which carried out the analysis, is now calling for the government’s environment bill to include legally binding targets to reduce air pollution to World Health Organisation (WHO) limits. Currently, legal limits on air pollution are set by the EU.

According to the UK’s Air Pollution Information System, the vast majority of NO2 comes from road travel, with half of NO2 generated in the Uk a result from motor vehicles. As part of its recovery plans, the government has said it will spend £27 billion for roads.  

Luke Pollard, the Shadow Environment Secretary, told The Independent: “It is essential after the Brexit transition period that we have a robust legal framework in place to ensure government action is taken to clean up our dirty air. It’s simply unacceptable that nearly 60 per cent of England’s population – including more than half our children and millions of over-65s – suffer illegally high air pollution. We know that sustained filthy air corresponds to a higher Covid death rate. People have a right to breathe good quality, clean air regardless of where they live. Ministers could and should act now to achieve this by putting the World Health Organisation air-quality limits into law.”

Many of the areas where NO2 has soared over legal limits are in London, including Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Lambeth and the City of London. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has also called for WHO limits to be enshrined in law.