Expert group says policy must take account of air pollution and climate change linkages
Tue 03 April 2007
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Environment policies at local, national and international level should take more account of the interactions between air pollution and climate change, according to a new report by the Air Quality Expert Group which was established to provide advice to the Government.
The AQEG says that climate policies should cover air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide because they are precursors of the greenhouse gases methane and ground-level ozone. The Group says that measures to reduce transport use would lead to benefits in both air quality and climate.
The AQEG's report says that air quality in the UK has improved considerably in recent years as emissions of pollutants have been cut thanks to legislation and technological advances, but the impacts of pollution controls on climate change and how climate change will affect air quality in the future is uncertain. This is the reason why Ministers commissioned the AQEG to consider this issue.
Specifically, the AQEG report found that:
* Air quality pollutants, such as particulate matter and ozone, influence climate change. Control of the gases that lead to the formation of particulate matter and ozone can therefore affect both air quality and climate change. Current international climate change policies do not recognise these impacts.
* Hot summers like the 2003 heatwave are likely to become the norm by 2040, leading to increased summer smogs unless emissions affecting ozone concentrations are substantially reduced. Episodes of winter smog, by contrast, are likely to be less prevalent.
* It is essential that the interlinkages between emissions of air quality and climate change pollutants are recognised in assessments of the impacts of policies and developments for industry, transport, housing etc.
* Most measures that lead to a reduction in demand or an improvement in the efficiency of an activity or product, benefit both air quality and climate change. Such measures should be actively promoted.
* Local, national and European policies must recognise the interactions between air quality and climate change pollutants in developing measures to reduce them.
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