Clean air campaign group Mums for Lungs has co-ordinated a nationwide alliance of organisations to call on the Government for a stronger Environment Bill. Over 100 groups, inncluding KEF, have written to the Government, urging them to act on their claims of being world leaders on the environment and calling for the inclusion of World Health Organisation air quality guidelines to be enshrined in the Environment Bill:
- Over 100 campaign groups, NGOs and businesses from across the UK, including Kingston Environment Forum, CPRE, Clean Air Southampton, Clean Air Fund and Breathe in Brighton have written to the Government, calling on them to set legally binding targets for air quality in the Environment Bill.
- The letter, addressed to the Secretary of State for the Environment George Eustice, states that too many people remain unaware of the serious effect of toxic air on their health and calls on the Government to set targets in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended guidelines for PM2.5.
- In 2019 Michael Gove, then Environment Secretary, said that the UK had failed in its obligations to improve air quality and that the Environment Bill should include “a legally binding commitment on particulate matter so that no part of the country exceeds the levels recommended by the WHO”.
- The groups are concerned that if the Government does not act now by setting enforceable clean air targets, especially for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), millions of people will continue to face the adverse health consequences of air pollution now and long into the future.
Read the full press release at https://e-voice.org.uk/kef/assets/documents/mumsflungspr-dec2020-2.
Find out more about Mums for Lungs and their clean air campaigns.