ClientEarth Comment on London’s Air Quality Divide

The British Lung Foundation have released research about the effects of air quality in London. The results found that those living in London’s most deprived boroughs are more likely to develop and suffer from respiratory diseases than those living in more affluent areas. The research highlighted that poorer communities are up to twice as likely to be affected by air pollution as those living in richer parts of the capital.

Andrea Lee, Healthy Air Campaigner for ClientEarth said: “Air pollution is a public health crisis and this research provides further evidence that it is having a devastating effect on the health of those living in the most deprived areas of London. We all have a right to breathe clean air and the new mayor is rightly proposing bold policies to clean up the city’s air. But the government needs to get its act together too. Instead of pushing for higher pollution limits in Brussels that would lead to thousands more early deaths, the government needs to show leadership in limiting emissions of harmful pollutants that will benefit all those living across the UK who are being made sick and dying early because of air pollution.”