EU court rules UK government must clean up dangerous air pollution

John Vidal in the Guardian (UK): The government will be forced to urgently clean up illegal air pollution in British cities following a ruling on Wednesday in the European court of justice. It is likely to see many diesel cars and heavy goods vehicles restricted from city centres within a few years.

The landmark case, brought by a small environmental group through the UK courts, will allow people to sue the government for breaching EU pollution laws and will force ministers to prepare plans for many cities to improve air quality.

The court firmly rejected Britain’s long-standing approach to complying with EU air pollution laws which has been to appeal to Europe for time extensions. The government has admitted that under current plans, several cities in the UK will not meet its legal limits for the toxic nitrogen dioxide gas (NO2) until after 2030. This is 20 years after the original deadline set by Europe.

Instead, UK courts will now be able to order the government to produce a plan which achieves NO2 limits in a period of time as “short as possible”. The UK Supreme court is expected to interpret what the time frame should be next year.

“Thousands of people die because of air pollution in Britain every year. This ruling will save lives by forcing the government to finally take this issue seriously. They will now have to come up with an urgent plan to rid our towns and cities of cancer-causing diesel fumes,” said Alan Andrews, lawyer with Client Earth which brought the case.

“This sets a groundbreaking legal precedent in EU law and paves the way for a series of legal challenges across Europe,” he said....

London smog from St. Paul's, shot by Iain Buchanan, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons 2.0 license