The Environment Act: an explainer
The Environment Act will determine how we look after our environment over the coming decades. Our Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Rob Day, sets out what the Act means for tackling air pollution and how you can get involved to ensure the government delivers cleaner air.
What is the Environment Act?
The Environment Act is the Government’s landmark piece of legislation designed to “protect and preserve the planet for generations to come” and to help the government reach its goal of meeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
It was first introduced into Parliament in October 2019 as the Environment Bill, becoming law on 9 November 2021 after long and heated discussions between MPs and Peers.
The Environment Bill and Air Pollution
The Bill was an opportunity for the government to commit to a new target for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) – the tiny particles of solids and liquids in the air, such as dust or dirt that stem from domestic wood and coal burning, industry and road transport.
The current legal limits for PM2.5 are not fit for purpose, being 5 times higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
What happened in Parliament?
Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation worked tirelessly with MPs and Peers from across Parliament to get an explicit target for PM2.5 written into the Bill itself. This target would be significantly more radical than the current target for PM2.5 in UK law, and would align with recommendations made by the WHO in 2005.
In September, we were pleased to see that the House of Lords amended the Bill to include this PM2.5 target and call for it to be reached by 2030 at the latest. However, disappointingly, the House of Commons voted to remove this amendment and the Lords were then unsuccessful at reinserting it into the Bill.
This meant that the Environment Act was passed into law on 9 November 2021 without a specific target for PM2.5 written into it.
Despite this, the Act does commit the government to setting a new target before the end of October 2022.
What next?
There will then be a public consultation taking place early this year, after which a new target for PM2.5 will be agreed. We will be working with the Government to try and make sure that this target is as ambitious as possible – at least reaching the 2005 WHO target of 10 µg/m3 by 2030 at the latest.
However, if the last year showed anything, it is the power that you all have to make yourselves heard and change the minds of decision-makers. The concessions that we got on the Environment Act were down to you. Emailing to your MP and highlighting the vital importance of taking action on toxic air.
We empower people with asthma to make changes that can be transformative.
Please donate now to help make sure people with asthma can live well this year.