Pollution Law Update Ignores IAQ, BESA Objects
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) says it is surprised that changes to pollution laws announced by the government ignore the importance of indoor air...
Read Full Article3 million working days a year are lost to air pollution under current targets, according to a report commissioned by the Clean Air Fund.
The new study, “Breathing Life into the UK Economy”, revealed that the UK economy could benefit by £1.6 billion annually by reducing premature deaths, sickness absence and lower productivity at work if the UK met the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for air pollution, which are stricter than the current UK legal limits.
The report was produced by CBI Economics on behalf of the Clean Air Fund, and shows the vital importance of securing green and healthy growth.
“I am doing everything in my power to stop Londoners breathing air so filthy that it damages children’s lungs and causes thousands of premature deaths. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has already cut toxic air by a third. We want to go further and will be expanding the ULEZ up to the North and South circular roads in 2021.”
–Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London
According to the report, reducing pollution to WHO levels could prevent 17,000 premature deaths each year of people of working age across the UK, who are dying nearly 12 (11.8) years earlier than expected, on average.
It was also discovered that for businesses, a loss of 3 million working days could be prevented every year from meeting the WHO’s guidelines, with workers currently becoming ill or having to take time off to care for sick children as a result of air pollution.
Workers would also benefit from increased earnings of £900m annually due to increased time in work.
The report is believed to be the first analysis of the economic benefits of reducing pollution levels such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5) to what are considered safe levels. The WHO guidelines for PM2.5 (a form of microscopic pollution) are more than twice as stringent as UK legal levels (10 µg/m³ annual mean vs 25 µg/m³ annual mean).
The report finds that lowering air pollution levels to WHO guidelines could reduce premature deaths and make those skills available to the economy. In addition, workers are less likely to suffer sickness from poor air quality, which would increase their available hours for work.
The £1.6bn annual benefit to the UK economy would be on top of savings to NHS and social care budgets from treating fewer patients with health conditions associated with pollution.
The analysis does not include potential wider benefits to the UK economy of meeting WHO air quality guidelines including preventing early retirement, the benefit to the voluntary sectors or impacts on consumer behaviour.
The Clean Air Fund is urging the government to include a legally binding commitment to meet WHO air pollution standards by 2030 in the Environment Bill, which is due to be debated in Parliament in the autumn.
This echoes calls by 16 other campaigning groups, part of the Healthy Air Campaign. Currently, the bill mentions “a target” for particulate matter (PM2.5), a particularly deadly form of pollution, but does not specify what that target will be, or when it will be met. Other pollutants, such as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) are not mentioned in the Environment Bill and the target for PM2.5 will only be presented to parliament in October 2022.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, commented on the research:
“I am doing everything in my power to stop Londoners breathing air so filthy that it damages children’s lungs and causes thousands of premature deaths. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has already cut toxic air by a third. We want to go further and will be expanding the ULEZ up to the North and South circular roads in 2021.
“We know there is still more to do. Pollution isn’t just a central London problem, which is why I have consistently demanded that the government match my ambition and improve the Environment Bill to include legally binding World Health Organization recommended limits, to be achieved by 2030, and to give cities the powers they need to eradicate air pollution.
“The CBI’s new report shows that cleaner air could boost the economy by £1.6 billion - we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild our cities and economies to be greener, fairer, and more sustainable.”
You can access the report in full here.
Picture: A photograph of the London skyline
Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 09 September 2020
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) says it is surprised that changes to pollution laws announced by the government ignore the importance of indoor air...
Read Full ArticleClean Air Day is the UK's largest air pollution campaign, bringing together communities, businesses, schools and the health sector. Watch the...
Read Full ArticleA woman in Canada has recently been the first to be diagnosed with health complications as a direct result of climate-change-induced weather experience. Dr Kyle Merrit...
Read Full ArticleLast month was National Clean Air Month in the US. Why is air quality important? The pandemic has brought consideration of clean air to the public eye, but the quality...
Read Full ArticleAn awareness day to promote the impact of humidity control in our daily lives and the buildings we live and work in has launched. The Humidity Control Group, a...
Read Full ArticleNew research shows that asthmatics in Oxford had fewer hospital stays in 2020, largely due to reduced air pollution during the national lockdown. Falling...
Read Full ArticleThe second annual World Ventil8 Day was held on 8 November 2023 to raise awareness of ventilation as a crucial part of human wellbeing. Beginning in 2022, the...
Read Full ArticleA trial at the HS2 construction site at Curzon Street has demonstrated that low-cost sensors could determine sources of air pollution. The study, published in npj...
Read Full ArticleA survey conducted for Clean Air Day found that 83 per cent of respondents wanted to know more about the air quality inside their homes, 1/6 said they worried about...
Read Full ArticleThe Building Engineering Services Association is marking 2023’s National Clean Air Day with new IAQ training materials. The theme of this year’s Clean Air...
Read Full Article