The problem of worsening air quality will require big-picture thinking to solve, says Philippa Ward, a partner at environmental charity Global Action Plan which specialises in behaviour change
I am writing this blog outside a park café in spring sunshine, breathing lungfuls of air that seem remarkably clean for London. Perhaps I am fooling myself. Last week, Londoners and people across the south-east were cautioned to avoid venturing outside. Old people, children, anyone with any lung or heart conditions, anyone thinking of strenuous exercise – forget it. Stay inside, was the stern official warning.
Pollution had hit the maximum: 10 out of 10 on the harm scale. Most of you will probably know the story – a combination of Saharan dust, European pollutants and our home-grown, illegal levels of noxious particles. But the ‘Killer Smog’ (as the Mirror delighted in calling it) has retreated and so did the headlines. Unfortunately, they will be back.
This will be one of the first reasons that the public starts demanding that politicians act on the environment. Unlike flooding, which is easy to ignore if it isn’t happening outside (or inside) your house, contaminated air affects us all. What’s more, it affects our ageing parents and our young children. It gets inside us. And it is causing 29,000 premature deaths each year in the UK.
The situation is even direr in China. Last week, an artist sold a jar of fresh air from Provence for £512, to highlight the appalling pollution that many cities in China permanently experience. There can be no official denial on this one – even government departments are joining in the ‘joke’, with local tourist boards sending bags of fresh mountain air to cities as advertising enticement for urban dwellers.
So the problem of dirty air that can make us sick or even cause an early death is worsening at home and abroad. This is a cross-border problem, a consequence of our 21st century lifestyles and our industrialisation. It is a problem that will need big-picture thinking to solve, as well as technology and behaviour change. It will need many of the same skills as acting on climate change – but with more immediate results and public buy-in. It is an opportunity as well as a threat.
At Global Action Plan, we’re running a project with Barts NHS Health Trust to try to cut emissions and so air pollution, at the same time as helping people deal with the impacts on their health. As with the bigger solution, this project will support both people and systems to change. As well as clean air zones, we’re planning to encourage suppliers to switch off their vehicles, incentivise cleaner engines, and support patients to deal with the impacts of air pollution. Backed by four boroughs, this should have a tangible impact on a central and congested area of London. Now we need to all think about what we can do on a city-wide and national scale. Contaminated air is everyone’s problem and we’ll need holistic and creative solutions to tackle it.
