On Thursday, proceedings began in the Supreme Court in a case against the UK Government over its failure to meet EU limits for air pollution.
The court case has been brought by environmental lawyers from the organisation ClientEarth and is a culmination of a four-year battle between the UK and EU courts.
Government plans to tackle air pollution show that they will not meet nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits until after 2030 – 20 years after the original deadline.
Air pollution campaigners are hoping that the Supreme Court will oblige the Government to come up with new plans as soon as possible. The Supreme Court could also rule that the Government must bring forward the date in which targets have to be met.
Experts have recently suggested that the death toll from air pollution, usually put at around 29,000 a year in the UK, could be substantially higher because of the effect of NO2, emitted during fossil fuel burning, which up until now has not been taken into account.
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, said:
“In the same week that the UK has experienced severe levels of air pollution it comes as no surprise that the Government are being taken to court because of a failure to act.
The Green Party has been warning everyone for years about the serious health problems that are associated with air pollution. How many court cases will it take before the Government takes the issue seriously?”
He also added:
“We need bold measures to tackle this public health crisis such as making public transport free in cities and towns on days of high air pollution”.