THE GOVERNMENT PLANS to develop a new Clean Air Act to drastically reduce air pollution as part of a new clean air strategy published today.
The strategy sets out measures to try to improve the quality of air in Ireland and cut down on pollution, including committing Ireland to setting stricter limits to stay within, to alleviate negative impacts on human health and the environment.
By 2040, the country should have reached the standard of the World Health Organisation’s air quality values, which set an even stricter bar for some pollutants than the EU air quality limits that Ireland is obliged to meet.
Currently, air pollution is estimated to cause around 1,300 to 1,400 premature deaths annually, while medical conditions such as strokes, heart disease, lung disease, lung cancer, asthma and dementia can be exacerbated by poor air quality.
Launching the strategy today, Minister for the Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan said that there are “no safe levels of air pollution”.
“Clean air is central to our wellbeing and particularly the wellbeing of the most vulnerable — children, older people or people who may be medically compromised. It is also critical to our wider environment with benefits for our communities, our habitats and our wildlife,” the minister said.
“While we are fortunate that our air quality is generally good, we have pockets and times when it is not acceptable and it is still estimated that up to 1,400 people die prematurely each year in Ireland due to air pollution. We are committed to addressing this critical public health and environmental challenge.”
The strategy provides for the implementation of new Solid Fuel Regulations and a review of all of Ireland’s air quality legislation, as well as require every government department to report annually on its progress in reducing air pollution.
It also sets out that a progress report on the strategy will be completed in the second quarter of next year, with a Clean Air Progress report to be submitted to Government annually.
Cabinet ministers signed off on the Clean Air Strategy yesterday in a meeting that also approved the submission of a delayed long-term climate strategy to the EU.
Minister Ryan said today that there is an “intrinsic link” between clean air and climate because many sources of air pollution also produce carbon dioxide emissions, which trap heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere and cause global average temperatures to rise.
“The new Clean Air Strategy includes a range of measures aimed at addressing these overlapping issues, like electrifying our heat systems and improving the energy efficiency of our homes or moving towards more electric vehicles and away from dirty and polluting fossil fuels, for example,” the minister said.
“There is a clear correlation between the actions needed to lower air pollution and those needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The Irish Heart Foundation said that the strategy includes several “positive commitments” but called for “more ambition” to reach standards earlier than the target of 2040.
Advocacy Manager Mark Murphy said: “The medical science is overwhelmingly clear. Air pollution is harmful to health at every stage of life, with cardiovascular health especially vulnerable to fine particulate matter, the most health-harming air pollutant.”
“Every year that we delay meeting these new WHO guidelines, we risk losing more lives prematurely, largely due to heart disease and stroke,” Murphy said.
“The strategy includes several positive commitments that will make a material impact in reducing air pollution, including a review of current legislation and the introduction of a new Clean Air Act. This will help deliver cleaner air by requiring the Government to set limits on certain pollutants and strengthen local authorities to take concrete measures to enforce and tackle air pollution,” he said.
However, “only by providing the necessary financial resources to local authorities can they be equipped to monitor and enforce air quality legislation”.
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