The Government risks missing a once in a generation opportunity to tackle deadly air pollution if it fails to strengthen its Environment Bill, our Chief Executive has warned today.
The Environment Bill 2019, introduced into the House of Commons two weeks ago by the Environment Secretary Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP, received its Second Reading last night. The Bill seeks to deliver on the Government’s commitment in its 2017 manifesto to “to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it”.
To achieve this, the Bill sets out new provisions in a range of areas regarding the environment. This includes setting much needed new air quality limits.
BHF-funded research has shown that exposure to air pollution, especially fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) can damage our heart in a multitude of ways, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. However, our current legal limits set by the EU are not health-based and permit dangerously high levels of harmful pollutants to health, like PM2.5.
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While the Environment Bill does make a welcome step forward in this area by committing to stricter targets for PM2.5, regrettably, it does not adopt the World Health Organization’s (WHO) limits for this and other harmful pollutants.
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