Air pollution is a social justice issue, the mayor of London has said, as he convened a summit of regional and national health leaders to tackle toxic emissions that are damaging the health of Londoners.
“For me the issue is very simple: it’s one of social justice,” Sadiq Khan said, opening the meeting at the Royal College of Physicians in London. “It’s the poorest people, least likely to own a car, least likely to cause the toxic air problems, who are most likely to suffer the consequences.”
Khan was joined for the summit by Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical officer; the environment minister Jo Churchill and Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death at her inquest.
“Look at the evidence,” he said. “It’s the poorest Londoners are least likely to own a car who suffer the worst consequences from toxic air.
“You’re more likely to suffer the adverse consequences of air pollution if you’re black, Asian or minority ethnic, if you’re not a car owner.
“In outer London, where the ULEZ currently doesn’t go to, there are far more deaths where air pollution has a causative impact; 4,000 premature deaths more in outer London. Poorest Londoners are suffering the worst consequences. So that’s why it’s really important we understand this is an issue of social justice.”
The summit has come in the week of the ninth anniversary of the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who died in 2013 following an asthma attack after years of poor health caused by pollution on the busy road in Lewisham, south-east London, where she lived. The summit was focused on ensuring Londoners are aware of the health impacts of air pollution, including via more targeted “air quality alerts” on the most polluted days.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah called for a public awareness campaign around air pollution, including stricter rules on cars idling with their engines running. “It’s going to cost money but it will save lives, so this is all about saving lives. We need to be very bold, and we need to be very loud,” she said.
“The coroner’s inquest showed without a doubt that air pollution from the traffic near our home contributed to Ella’s severe asthma, and that without it Ella would still be alive today,” Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said. “The coroner set out clear recommendations on how the UK’s national and local governments and health professionals can prevent future deaths like Ella’s. In London, eight to 12 children die from asthma every year. That is unacceptable, and it’s time we act to save their lives.”
Existing measures, including the controversial low-traffic neighbourhoods that have been rolled out across London, were “not working”, Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said. “I was coming today, I was sitting on the train, and I saw the new TfL stat: on the A21 now, traffic has risen,” she said. “And I thought ‘what?’ But then, this is what’s going on, if you shut one place it just moves it on somewhere else.
“When you come out you notice it, all the main roads are congested. I wouldn’t like to drive in central London, but there are people who also live here, we forget that; people live here and they breathe this every day, people have to go to work. So for some … it is not a choice.”
Whitty said the problem of air pollution was big, but solvable through a combination of regulation and engineering. “This is a big problem and what Rosamund has done so successfully is put a human face on the problem,” he said. But he emphasised that the problem faced people from every walk of life. “It’s not just a problem for children with asthma.”
