The Government’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) is currently undertaking an inquiry on air pollution in England. IEEP UK has contributed to the EAC’s call for evidence as well as advising some of its consultatory witnesses. On the 18th March, the EAC called witnesses to the House of Commons to respond to key questions on air pollution policy in England.
Ruth Chambers OBE, Senior Fellow at environmental NGO Green Alliance, responded to a question on international lessons for the UK on air quality, citing IEEP UK. She said “We’ve been speaking to our friends at the Institute for European Environmental Policy, who are monitoring very carefully what is happening in the EU, and there are three examples we’d like to bring to your attention today. One is on monitoring, one is on funding, and one is on a planning level, and I think that they’re really quite instructive”.
The first of the three examples provided to Ruth by Christopher Crompton, Senior Policy Analyst at IEEP UK, concerned compulsory monitoring of public buildings in France under the Grenelle II law. Ruth highlighted the requirement for mandatory annual assessment of ventilation systems, for example, including measurement of carbon dioxide. She also referenced the French approach of measuring pollutants at each key stage of a building’s development to future-proof its life in relation to indoor air quality.
The second example came from Oslo, Norway, where a planning tool called the Blue Green Factor mandates minimum ecological performance requirements for new developments. Surveys indicate that eight out of ten citizens in Oslo have not only increased satisfaction in air quality, noise conditions, and traffic levels since measuring began; they’re also happier overall.
The third and final example was the EU’s new Social Climate Fund to support people and businesses most impacted by the new emissions trading system (ETS2) covering transport and buildings. To access the funding, member states have had to transpose the directive and submit their Social Climate Plans to the Commission, setting out measures to support vulnerable households, transport initiatives and micro enterprises. While that fund can bring important co-benefits for air quality.
IEEP UK hopes that examples such as these from across the EU as well as our broader contributions to evidence submission will assist the EAC in informing new policy directions to improve air pollution for people and the environment across the UK. Our forthcoming report on air quality, set to be published in April 2026, will highlight further practical lessons from Europe for the UK on improving air quality.