UK 'Failing Miserably' To Clean Up Act On Air Quality Targets, Says Green Euro-MP

South East Euro-MP and Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas has demanded that Government ministers step up their efforts to promote cleaner air, after Defra announced today that it was submitting its application for a further delay on crucial EU air quality targets that the UK was meant to meet by 2005 (1).

The MEP, who sits on the European Parliament's Environment Committee, as well as the Health and Consumer Intergroup, said: "Today's announcement by Defra serves as yet another reminder that the UK has singularly failed to act on EU air quality targets and has no real plan for reducing levels of PM10 emitted by sectors such as transport and industrial plants.

"It is embarrassing for a Government trying to position itself as a world leader on environmental policy that ministers have not yet been able to adequately protect human health through the implementation of effective strategies to meet the EU's basic targets to reduce pollution.

"In January, the European Commission revealed that it wants to launch legal proceedings against the UK for this failure to adhere to the EU Air Quality Directive. At the time, I called the Commission's decision 'a shameful indictment of the Government's misguided and irresponsible commitment to aviation expansion and coal-fired power'.

"And yet months down the line, we see ministers blindly persisting in their efforts to open new coal fired power stations and expand airports - despite the levels of pollution that these developments will cause, and ignoring the warnings of health and environmental experts.

"The Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas himself has agreed that an application by the UK for derogation (a delay) on the targets until 2011 would go against the spirit of the Directive."

Dr Lucas continued: "These air quality targets are not arbitrary; they are negotiated in Parliament to reduce the pollutant particles found in our air, which have been linked to asthma, cardiovascular problems and lung cancer. UK Government must take heed of the Commission's warnings of legal action and immediately step up efforts to meet the EU targets."