ClientEarth Receive 100k Cash Boost

Environmental law firm, ClientEarth, have been awarded a grant of £100,000 from the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust.

ClientEarth, based in London, is dedicated to providing solutions to key environmental challenges. As part of its work the charity is trying to achieve cleaner air in London. The grant will fund a new project working with businesses to ensure they are informed about the effects of air pollution and what can be done to tackle it. ClientEarth will seek to build business support for the policies that are needed to clean up London’s dirty air.

Air pollution affects all Londoners – and ClientEarth says there is evidence to suggest disadvantaged communities are particularly impacted by the poor air quality in the capital. London has some of the worst air quality in the UK and some of the most polluted streets in Europe. In many parts of London, legal limits designed to protect people’s health are not being met.

ClientEarth wants to make London a world leader in sustainable urban transport whilst also achieving an enhanced Ultra Low Emission Zone as part of its mission to improve the quality of London’s air.

Alison Gowman, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said:

“Tackling London’s air quality problem is a priority for both the City of London Corporation and ClientEarth.

We are committed to supporting Londoners to make the capital a healthier and fairer place to work and live

“City Bridge Trust is keen to help ClientEarth work with the capital’s businesses to improve London’s air quality. We are committed to supporting Londoners to make the capital a healthier and fairer place to work and live. We are delighted to have helped so many projects through the fund that are opening up incredible opportunities and enhancing lives.”

The City of London Corporation has been engaging with business on air quality for several years through its City Air Programme. It recently banned the purchase of diesel vehicles for its own fleet of 300 vehicles – and it is pioneering a London-wide crackdown on drivers who leave their engines idling. Its City Air app gives Londoners low pollution travel routes across London and advice and alerts when air pollution is high. Last year the Corporation agreed a deal with Addison Lee – London’s biggest private hire taxi firm – to automatically switch hybrid taxis to ‘electric mode’ in key areas of the City. The Corporation has also introduced a City-wide 20mph zone, and its new procurement rules have brought in tight restrictions on harmful emissions from bulldozers and generators.

ClientEarth spokesperson Simon Alcock added:

“We are delighted to receive this grant from City Bridge Trust. This is the perfect time to be engaging business following our court case victory and the announcements made by the Mayor of London.

“The solutions to solving our clean air crisis should benefit business and consumers. It will help protect the health of employees and make London a more desirable place to work and live. It will also create economic opportunities for businesses that develop the new products and services we will need to clean up London’s air. We want to build business support for this shift and to help make London a world leader in sustainable urban transport and clean technologies.

“Our recent win in the High Court following the victory in the Supreme Court in 2015 is forcing the UK Government to act on air pollution and has established ClientEarth as a leader in air quality campaigning in the UK. “

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £350 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.