Supreme Court Says Government Must Submit New Air Quality Plans to EU

The Supreme Court of the UK has ordered the government to submit “new air quality plans to the European Commission no later than 31 December 2015.” The judgment was handed down on April 29 in an appeal to the court by Client Earth, an environmentalist legal group, against the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The proceedings arose, the court said, out of the “admitted and continuing failure of the United Kingdom since 2010 to secure compliance in certain zones with the limits for nitrogen dioxide levels set by European Union law.” The zones cited included parts of London, the court said.

Client Earth originally brought the proceedings in 2011.

Citizen Earth said, “The ruling will save thousands of lives a year by forcing the Government to urgently clean up pollution from diesel vehicles, the main source of the illegal levels of nitrogen nioxide found in many of the UK’s towns and cities.” Credit: YouTube/UK Supreme Court