British government in court for emissions breaches

An environmental law group in the UK has filed a lawsuit against the British government for breaching safe limits of nitrogen dioxide in 16 cities.

The case, brought by ClientEarth, began on Thursday at the Supreme Court in London after the European Court of Justice ruled the UK must have a policy to meet air quality standards in the shortest time possible.

Nitrogen dioxide is mainly emitted by diesel exhausts and the Government is not due to achieve reduction targets of the dangerous greenhouse gas until 2030.

The High Court and Court of Appeal rejected ClientEarth’s legal challenge, but the Supreme Court has offered another opportunity.

Air pollution in the UK causes 29,000 premature deaths a year and costs the economy around £9-£19 billion, according to government research.

Findings have linked nitrogen dioxide to respiratory problems, heart attacks and strokes.

The British Health Foundation called on the Supreme Court on Thursday to force the government to “speed up drastically” its air quality improvement plans.

EU pollution limits came into force in 2005 and the UK government received a grace period up to 2011.

According to official statistics, the number of diesel cars in the UK reached 9.4 million in 2012, accounting for a third of all licensed cars.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled diesel exhausts as ‘carcinogenic’.