The Government will be appearing at the UK Supreme Court as it has failed to cut air pollution in line with legal limits. The Supreme Court could end up forcing the Government to take steps to reduce dangerous air pollution in many British cities in order to meet European limits.
Under current air-quality plans, London may not meet its legal limit to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution until 2025.
The High Court and the Court of Appeal have both refused to take action on the issue, ruling that the enforcement was a matter for the European Commission. Simon Birkett, Founder and Director of Clean Air in London, said, "If the Supreme Court does not require action, the European Commission must."
ClientEarth, a group of campaigning lawyers that brought the case will say that the Government has a legal duty to comply with EU timescales and its plans to reduce pollution are inadequate. Alan Andrews of ClientEarth said, "The fact that the Government's plans won't achieve compliance with air-quality standards until 2025 is a disgrace. It thinks that laws that are in place to save lives are "red tape". That's why they are refusing to act to tackle air pollution, while at the same time they are lobbying the EU to get the laws weakened."
However, a spokesperson from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said, "Our air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and most of the UK meets EU air quality limits for all pollutants. Our plans for nitrogen dioxide set out all the important work being done to meet EU standards in the shortest possible time."
This case could not have come at a worse time for the Government particularly as it was forced to issue a severe pollution warning on air quality in London in the same week.
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