By Olivia Rutherford, Third Year History
Data reveals that Bristol is among more than 40 towns in the UK that breach the accepted pollution limit.
The figures are startling; air pollution is a killer. Globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that nine out of ten people are breathing in polluted air, often unknowingly, accounting for 7 million deaths. Last week in Geneva, the WHO held the first emergency Global conference on Air Pollution and Health. Agreements were made to reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution by ⅔ by 2030.
Luke Andrew Scowen/ Flickr
Clean Air for Bristol reports around 300 deaths a year are linked to air pollution in the city. Labour Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste and Regulatory Service in Bristol, Kye Dudd, talked to Epigram about this. He regards air pollution as ‘100% a public health issue’ with poor air quality linked to a range of health problems such as respiratory conditions, low birth weight in babies and reduced lung capacity, with deaths being ‘the tip of the iceberg’. Leader of the Green Group of Councillors in Bristol, Eleanor Combley, spoke to Epigram about how ‘if we really want to safeguard the health of Bristolians, getting to legal levels cannot be the end of the story’. Both Councillors discuss the effects of air pollution on the health of lower income communities in Bristol. Dudd comments that the ‘areas with the worst pollution, ironically are the areas where there is the lowest car ownership’ such as in ‘very poor communities’ where ‘people who have least to do with the problems are suffering the most.’
Bristol Green Party/ Unsplash
Bristol City Council is making transport changes by supporting the introduction of electric taxis, 150 biogas buses and by considering charging polluting vehicles in the city. However, Councillor Dudd expresses his concern over funding from central government to support a reduction in air pollution where the 220-million-pound pot for mitigation strategies has remained the same despite the addition of 33 new areas nationally.
Earlier this year, the central government lost the third high court case against Client Earth, due to illegally high air pollution levels across the UK; Bristol is one of the areas which currently breaches EU and UK government's legal standards for air pollutants. Councillor Combley comments that the WHO conference in Geneva ‘can help to set the mood music, but really tackling air pollution needs action – at the national level to secure the powers and funding needed, and at the local level to apply those ideas and make a real difference’.
Feature Image: Nic Trott/ Flickr
How should we tackle our city's pollution problem? Send us your thoughts!
