Legislative Consent Motion - UK Government Environment Bill
British Heart Foundation NI - written submission on the Environment Bill
Sent via email to the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Committee.AgriEnvRural@niassembly.gov.uk
BHF Northern Ireland
14 Cromac Place
The Gasworks
Belfast
BT7 2JB
Wednesday 10 June 2020
Dear Chair,
I am writing to you in advance of the Committee drafting its report on the Environment Bill and the Legislative Consent Motion in the Assembly.
As the leading independent UK funder of heart and circulatory disease research, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has supported over £5.5 million of research into the effects of air pollution on the heart and circulatory system. Our pioneering research includes some of the first to identify the impact of diesel exhaust on heart health and has helped to shed light on how pollution – especially fine and ultrafine particulate matter – may be linked to an increased risk of a heart attack and stroke.
We would like to draw your attention to some key issues to help inform the debate on the Environment Bill and subsequent strategies and improvement plans.
- In Northern Ireland, 310 heart and circulatory disease deaths are attributed to the most dangerous kind of air pollution, particulate matter.
- Over the next decade heart and circulatory disease deaths in Northern Ireland attributed to particulate matter air pollution could exceed 4,500.
- The mortality impact from both particulate matter and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) for the island of Ireland is estimated to be at least 1,700 deaths per year and possibly in excess of 2,000 deaths per year.
- Current legal air quality limits for England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not protect public health. The EU limits followed in Northern Ireland are the same as the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended upper limits for nitrogen dioxide, but are less stringent than the WHO’s threshold for other health-harmful pollutants such as particulate matter.
- BHF have led a UK wide campaign calling for the Environment Bill to include the introduction of stricter limits for particulate matter.
Given that the Environment Bill is mainly concerned with transposing EU law into UK domestic law and ensuring against the emergence of environmental governance gaps, BHF NI are keen to work both with the Committee and Department in achieving good outcomes locally.
In particular, we would like to see measures introduced in Northern Ireland as part of an environment strategy and/or environmental improvement plans that may flow from the Bill to reduce the impact of air pollution in our communities including:
- A clear roadmap towards WHO guideline limits for particulate matter, including time-bound commitments and interim milestones underpinned by targets;
- Better monitoring of health-harmful pollutants, in order to understand and reduce population level exposure and accurately measure progress towards legally-binding targets;
- Increased public awareness of the health impacts of air pollution, air pollution levels in their area and action that people, especially those with heart and circulatory disease, can take to protect their health.
We would welcome the opportunity to engage further with the Committee on these issues.
Yours sincerely
Fearghal McKinney
Head of British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland
