Gove to defend UK air pollution plan

One of Michael Gove’s first acts as environment secretary is to defend the UK in court over its poor plans to crack down on poor air quality.

A hearing has been ordered by the High Court in the next coming weeks which will address the government’s plans to clean up illegal air pollution across the country.

The government’s plans were released on 5 May, despite a last-minute bid by the government to delay them.

The consultation on the plans contained such major flaws that the environmental law organisation ClientEarth was forced to take the UK government back to court to seek urgent improvements.

In April 2015, ClientEarth won its case against the government in the Supreme Court, with judges ordering ministers to come up with a plan to reduce air pollution to within legal limits as soon as possible.

The plan, released in December of that year, was so poor that ClientEarth took the government back to court. In November of last year, the government was again ordered, this time by the High Court, to revise its plans.

The evidence provided by the government to accompany the latest plans shows that a network of clean air zones which stop the dirtiest diesel vehicles entering the most polluted areas of UK towns and cities would be the most effective solution (although the plan itself does not propose this).

According to ClientEarth, there need to be policies which help people to move away from diesel vehicles to cleaner forms of transport.

ClientEarth CEO James Thornton said: “Michael Gove has a career-defining opportunity here to be remembered as the minister who finally cleaned up our country’s illegally bad air pollution.

“The government has twice been ordered to produce plans to bring down air pollution as soon as possible. We hope that the new Secretary of State is able to get a grip of this problem. Everyone has the right to breathe clean air.”

Levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution remain illegal in 37 of 43 zones across the country.