The Government has today published its updated Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). This includes a revised date for when air quality targets for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) will be met, matching the current EU target. IEEP UK called for the UK to align with the EU’s higher air quality standards in our latest State of Play Report, as part of our ongoing focus on tracking divergence of UK environmental policy from the EU after Brexit. The announcement that the Government has now committed to align with EU standards and timeframe for this key air pollutant is therefore welcome, although it marks only a small first step towards the broader improvements to air quality that we need.
The UK’s annual PM2.5 limit had been set at 25µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre), with an aim to meet 10µg/m3 by 2040. The EU passed a new directive in 2024 obliging EU Member States to meet 10µg/m3 by 2030, which is the new target outlined in today’s EIP. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a tighter annual limit of 5ug/m3, so alignment with the EU target for a faster move toward the 10µg/m3 level should only be treated as a stepping stone towards meeting WHO recommendations.
Air pollution in the UK contributes to up to 43,000 premature deaths and costs the economy £29 billion every year. PM2.5 exposure is linked to a suite of health conditions including asthma, lung disease, heart disease, cancer and strokes, so reducing PM2.5 levels in ambient air should help to improve this picture. However, there are other key air pollutants that are damaging to human health and in some cases also to the natural environment, which the updated EIP has ignored. UK targets remain less ambitious than the EU’s for pollutants includes nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and ozone. Again, the EU still falls short of WHO guidelines, but alignment with EU standards would mark a proactive first step.
Scotland has stepped forward and offered an example for the rest of the UK to follow in setting a more ambitious target for one key pollutant, coarse particulate matter (PM10) than even the EU has set. Scotland’s annual limit target for PM10 is 18µg/m3, compared to 20µg/m3 in the EU and 40µg/m3 in the rest of the UK. The WHO recommends a limit of 15 µg/m3 for PM10, but Scotland is leading the UK and Europe in ambition toward that eventual goal.
Christopher Crompton, a Senior Policy Analyst at IEEP who co-authored our latest State of Play Report on air quality, said of today’s announcements:
“Poor air quality remains the single biggest environmental threat to human health in the UK and is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year. The Government has a responsibility and prime opportunity to do more through legislation and policy to clean up the air we breathe. The new date for our PM2.5 target is a welcome start, but overall the updated EIP is a missed opportunity to make the necessary changes to protect the UK’s people and ecosystems. We need to see full alignment with EU standards across all key pollutants, as a first step towards meeting WHO recommendations.”
The UK’s legislative independence on environmental policy after Brexit presents an opportunity to lead Europe on air quality. At the same time, there are some areas, including scientific collaboration and data sharing, where the UK could benefit from rekindling closer ties to the European Environment Agency. The new EIP confirms that the government is starting to listen and is moving in the right direction but is still missing this opportunity on too many fronts.
IEEP UK will be conducting a detailed analysis later this week of the new EIP commitments and comparing them with similar targets set in the EU. Watch this space.
Photo by Elliot Martin on Unsplash