CIEH urge the next UK government to prioritise air pollution on Clean Air Day

To commemorate Clean Air Day, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) highlights the global rise of air pollution, urging the UK government to take ambitious action to improve air quality.

Air pollution remains the single biggest environmental risk to public health– responsible for over 40,000 deaths per year in the UK, and as evident in recent findings, 135 million deaths globally over the last four decades.

Environmental health professionals within local authorities play a crucial role in tackling the UK’s air quality, from enforcing legislation to implementing the various initiatives to reach air quality targets. However, as evident within CIEH’s long-standing air quality campaign, local authorities need greater direction, monitoring, and funding to better tackle air pollution.

CIEH’s 2024 manifesto called upon the UK Governments to introduce ambitious air quality targets in line with the World Health Organization’s Air Quality target of 10ug/m³ PM_2.5 by 2030 and deliver a strategic approach to air quality alongside a holistic framework for resourcing local authorities. To mobilise the voices of our members, we call upon them to sign Global Action Plan’s petition to urge the next government to prioritise healthy air; and utilise our ‘write to your candidate template' to support CIEH’s parliamentary engagement upon air pollution.

Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at CIEH, said: 

“On Clean Air Day and in the run up to General Election, CIEH urge the UK Government to recognise the critical role environmental health professionals play within local authorities to tackle air pollution.

Our members work at the front line of safeguarding the UK's air quality and it’s necessary that any scaled ambitions from national government is met with additional capacity and resources for local authorities to tackle this urgent issue.

We continue to call on all parties to commit to tackle air pollution in our manifesto.”