has signalled Wales’s
determination to go further to improve air quality, setting out a
series of new measures in a Clean Air Plan for Wales.
Air pollution remains the largest environmental risk to the
public’s health. Public Health Wales estimates it contributed to
between 1,000 and 1,400 deaths in 2017. Long
term exposure to pollution in the atmosphere shortens lifespans
and damages the quality of life of many. It also affects the
quality of our habitats, levels of biodiversity and the
economy.
The Clean Air Plan for
Wales, Healthy Air, Healthy Wales out for
consultation today (Tuesday
10th December), brings
together work across Government and the public sector. It
consolidates progress already made and proposes a
range of new actions and commitments. These include funding new
infrastructure, tightening existing regulations and acting as a
stepping stone to a new Clean Air Act for Wales.
The Plan sets out a wide-ranging programme of work within
four clear themes:
· Protecting
health and wellbeing of current and future generations.
· Supporting
environment, ecosystems and biodiversity.
· Supporting
a prosperous Wales.
· Supporting
sustainable places.
It includes ambitions to meet and, where possible, exceed
requirements set out in UK and international guidance and
legislation. It also commits the Welsh Government
to publish a White Paper this Assembly term on
a Clean Air Act for Wales.
The twelve-week consultation seeks views on existing
commitments and proposed new actions in the Plan
including:
· Increasing
air quality monitoring outside areas such as schools and
hospitals to protect those most vulnerable from
transport emissions.
· Investing
an additional £60 million over 3 years to implement the Active
Travel Act, meaning local authorities must
consult with communities and develop a safe network for walking
and cycling.
· Reviewing
powers local authorities have to tackle emissions from the indoor
burning of solid fuels such as wood and coal.
· Assessing
the contribution bonfires and fireworks make to levels of harmful
emissions.
· Investigating
measures aimed at reducing personal vehicle use such as road
pricing, Clean Air Zones and/or Low Emission Zones.
· Increasing
the proportion of vehicles which are electric and ultra-low
(ULEV) emission.
· Strategic
tree and hedge planting and expanding woodland
which support air quality improvements.
· Plans
to improve air quality communications and education.
The Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural
Affairs said:
“Everyone in Wales should be able to breathe healthy air,
access healthy and protected natural resources and enjoy
sustainable and clean economic growth. The Clean Air Plan for
Wales: Healthy Air, Healthy Wales provides a national framework
within which all areas of society can work together towards these
objectives.
“We have made good progress but we must
continue to improve. We must improve air quality, not just in the
most polluted hotspots, but across all of Wales. This Plan will
consolidate the work we have already carried out and build upon
it.
“Together, we have an opportunity to work towards improving air
quality for our children and for future generations. I urge
people to have their say on our plans by responding to the
consultation.”
Joseph Carter, Chair of Healthy Air Cymru and Head of
BLF Wales said:
“The Clean Air Plan provides an opportunity for Welsh
Government and Local Authorities to work closer together to
achieve the cleanest air possible.
“We're proud of the contributions we have been able to make
to the development of the plan and look forward to continuing our
work with Welsh Government to promote the positive impacts it can
have for our health and the well-being of future
generations.”
Notes to
editors
The consultation will be live
at gov.wales/consultations and
llyw.cymru/ymgyngoriadau
Public Health Wales has recently updated the estimate
calculations on air pollution-attributable mortality. The new
estimates have been derived using new methods recommended by the
UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP),
where the mortality burden of attributable all-cause
(non-accidental) deaths is presented as an ‘effect equivalent to’
range, rather than a central estimate (as was the case
previously).
The long-term mortality burden from air pollution exposure
was an estimated effect equivalent range of between 1,000 and
1,400 deaths in 2017. Unlike earlier mortality estimates which
related specifically to fine particulate exposure, these revised
burden calculations take into account the multi-pollutant impact
from both fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide exposure.
To place this in context, for the UK as a whole it is estimated
that between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths each year are attributed to
human-made air pollution.
It should be noted that because mortality burden estimates
are relatively simple calculations that provide a useful ‘feel’
for the size of the air pollution problem in a given area at a
certain point in time, they require careful interpretation:
- numbers of deaths do not refer to ‘actual’ deaths; they
reflect the sum of the small contributions that air pollution
exposure makes to life-expectancy reductions amongst all
individuals in a population;
- it is not appropriate to compare estimates between
different geographical areas;
- it is not appropriate to use successive year’s estimates to
describe trends over time.
