The European Court of Justice has been told that London, Leeds and Birmingham could miss their air quality targets in 2030. Since 2010, the UK has been exceeding limits on nitrogen dioxide pollution limits, which has led the European Commission and environmental lawyers to launch separate legal actions against the Government. As a result, the Government faces a fine of £300 million a year for its infraction.
Until now, the Government have maintained that all of the UK would be compliant with EU requirements by 2025, although that is now known to be untrue. In addition, lawyers at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that the 2030 plan was legally privileged information.
Alan Andrews, a lawyer for ClientEarth which has brought a case against the UK for the breach, said, "It’s bad enough that the government has no intention of complying with these limits in the foreseeable future. It’s even worse that they’re trying to hide behind legal procedural rules to keep this quiet. We have a right to breathe clean air and the right to know when the government is failing to protect us.
In response, the Government have blamed EU standards for failing to improve the performance of diesel engines, one of the main contributors of nitrogen dioxide - a point which campaigners have accepted. A spokesperson for DEFRA said, "We are investing heavily in measures to improve air quality and have committed billions to increase uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, sustainable travel and green transport initiatives."
It remains to be seen as to whether such measures will be accepted by the European Court of Justice, who are set to make a decision on the case by the end of the year. The UK Supreme Court will then receive the case for final judgement in 2015.
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