Jocelyn Cockburn: Lawyer plans legal challenge against Government over failure to tackle air pollution

A leading human rights lawyer is preparing a landmark legal challenge against the Government over its failure to tackle the lethal effects of air pollution, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Jocelyn Cockburn, who successfully fought to bring British troops abroad under the protection of the Human Rights Act, is investigating several cases in an attempt to force the authorities to bring Britain’s air quality up to minimum standards demanded by the EU.

The legal action could see claims brought for the first time under “right to life” human rights legislation on behalf of victims of pollution – from childhood asthma sufferers to street cleaners. The aim is to accelerate reduced emissions, bringing them to levels that are not due to be met until 2030.

As well as central government, public bodies such as local authorities or Transport for London could find themselves named as defendants in legal complaints seeking redress for the persistently high pollution levels of some of Britain’s biggest cities.

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A challenge highlighting the human cost of dirty air will be an unwelcome prospect for the Government, which is already under pressure from the courts to drastically improve pollution levels.

Ms Cockburn told The IoS: “Air pollution is a public health emergency, which prematurely kills far more people than alcohol, obesity and road traffic accidents combined, and is second only to smoking as a cause of death in the UK. The fact that the Government has got away with failing to protect the public for so long is a scandal.”

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that Britain had been in breach of EU rules on levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) since 2010 and must draw up plans to deal with the problem by the end of the year. The Government last month launched a consultation process as part of its efforts to comply with the ruling.

NO2 is a by-product of diesel engines and, along with particulates – tiny pieces of unburnt soot that penetrate the heart, brain and lungs – is strongly linked to provoking or exacerbating breathing difficulties in vulnerable people, including asthmatics and those with respiratory diseases.

Some 29,000 people a year die prematurely because of air pollution, according to Public Health England. Poor air quality is also increasingly linked to impaired lung development in children.

In the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, which revealed that 11 million vehicles worldwide – including 1.2 million on British roads – had been fitted with software to cheat diesel emissions testing, medical experts are concerned that the risk to public health from NO2 may be higher than previously thought.

According to one estimate, a further 23,500 deaths could be attributable to NO2, bringing annual premature mortality due to air pollution to 52,500.

Ms Cockburn, who suffers from asthma as well as scoliosis, a spinal condition that reduces lung capacity, said that her own life was impacted by air-quality issues and the Government’s initial response to the Supreme Court ruling had been “woefully inadequate”.

“Volkswagen’s behaviour is shocking,” she said, “but much of the reporting has been about the defrauding of customers and there has been little focus on what I consider to be the main issue, which is the risk to human health. For too long, evidence of the dire impact of diesel emissions and other pollutants has been sidelined.”

Researchers last year found that London’s Oxford Street has the highest NO2 concentrations in the world. The UK has breached legal limits for the chemical in 16 different cities and regions since 2010.

Under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the state has a duty to protect the right to life. Ms Cockburn is hoping to bring claims that this right has been infringed on behalf of individuals affected by having to live or work in areas with heavy air pollution.

One possibility is that an inquest could hear evidence linking the death of an individual to poor air quality. If a death can be proved to be due to pollution, legal rules allow a coroner to require that action be taken to prevent similar fatalities.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss last month announced proposals that, the Government said, would enable Britain to comply with EU rules on NO2 levels in cities by 2020, with London to follow by 2025, rather than the current date of 2030. Under the plans, local councils would be asked to expand the use of low-emission buses and park and ride schemes.