Our air-quality strategies are finally moving up a gear

It might be hard for confirmed Remoaners such as myself to praise Michael Gove, but since becoming Environment Secretary he has transformed Defra from a moribund department of side-lined ministers with depressed and demotivated civil servants to being the part of Whitehall that is bringing forward ideas beyond Brexit.

Yesterday’s draft Clean Air Strategy is a million miles from the foot-dragging and nay-saying I encountered at Defra while I was Boris Johnson’s Deputy Mayor for the Environment. Five years ago the UK’s air-pollution scandal was seen only through the prism of how it delayed road building while campaigners used clean air laws to stop diggers.

Now the Government says it will deliver on repeated requests from both current and previous Mayors to give local authorities powers to enforce emissions standards on building-site equipment and regulate the burning of solid fuels.

From a low base this is real progress and there is ambition to meet stretching World Health Organisation targets. Yes, the detail remains vague, but its focus on the need to improve air quality gives the Government the opportunity to take steps to solve the issue which previously might have been politically difficult. Happily, too, there are new technologies to help clean up our air in a smart, fair and affordable way.

The UK is already good at Clean Tech and we can build on this strength to become a leading world centre. While the new strategy makes a welcome reference to innovation, the Government needs to do much more to set the right regulations and price signals.

I work with technology companies creating solutions to urban environmental problems. For example, Off Grid Energy is an energy storage company that reinforces local grids for electric-vehicle charging and reduces diesel consumption in temporary power generators. Taxing diesel used on building sites at the same rate as vehicles would result in more sustainable approaches, higher revenues for the Treasury and lower costs for the industry.

The connected car technology company Tantalum’s Air.Car product uses AI developed by Imperial College to estimate accurately tailpipe emissions. This can be used to inform apps, providing cleaner routes, delivering lower emissions and exposure.

It also provides a cost-effective and fair approach for Sadiq Khan to integrate London’s myriad road-charging schemes into one, charging for the actual impact of individual journeys. The Government should help to implement this as it puts roads funding on a sustainable footing.

These are just a couple of examples of innovations, which together can improve air quality, reduce costs and boost economic growth. Michael Gove has turned the ship in the right direction. Now he should push up the throttle.