DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (News Release ref
:107/07) issued by The Government News Network on 2 April 2007
More consideration
must be given to the links between climate change and air quality
pollutants, according to a new report published by the Air Quality
Expert Group (AQEG) today.
Air quality in the UK has improved considerably in recent years
as emissions of pollutants have been cut thanks to legislation and
technological advances.
However, the impacts of pollution controls on climate change and
how climate change will affect air quality in the future is
uncertain. That is why Ministers commissioned the AQEG to consider
this issue.
The AQEG report found that:
* Air quality pollutants, such as particulate matter and ozone,
influence climate change. Control of the gases that lead to the
formation of particulate matter and ozone can therefore affect
both air quality and climate change. Current international climate
change policies do not recognise these impacts.
* Hot summers like the 2003 heatwave are likely to become the
norm by 2040, leading to increased summer smogs unless emissions
affecting ozone concentrations are substantially reduced. Episodes
of winter smog, by contrast, are likely to be less prevalent.
* It is essential that the interlinkages between emissions of air
quality and climate change pollutants are recognised in
assessments of the impacts of policies and developments for
industry, transport, housing etc.
* Most measures that lead to a reduction in demand or an
improvement in the efficiency of an activity or product, benefit
both air quality and climate change. Such measures should be
actively promoted.
* Local, National and European policies must recognise the
interactions between air quality and climate change pollutants in
developing measures to reduce them.
Professor Mike Pilling, AQEG chairman, said:
"The report draws together the most up-to-date research on
the linkages between climate change and air quality. It examines
the scientific background to these interactions and identifies
synergies, where measures to improve air quality can help to
tackle climate change, and trade-offs where policy measures in the
two areas act in opposition. I hope this report is a useful
contribution to this important policy area."
Editors' Notes
1. The report can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/panels/aqeg/index.htm
2. The Air Quality Expert Group is a non-departmental public body
set up in 2001 to provide scientific advice on air quality,
particularly the air pollutants contained in the Air Quality
Strategy (AQS) for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
and those covered by the EU Directive on ambient air quality
assessment and management (the Air Quality Framework Directive).
AQEG's main functions are:
* To give advice to ministers on levels, sources and
characteristics of air pollutants in the UK;
* To assess the extent of exceedences of Air Quality Strategy
objectives and proposed objectives, EU limit values and proposed
or possible objectives and limit values, where monitoring data is
not available;
* To analyse trends in pollutant concentrations;
* To assess current and future ambient concentrations of air
pollutants in the UK; and
* To suggest potential priority areas for future research aimed
at providing a better understanding of the issues that need to be
addressed in setting air quality objectives.
The Group will not give approval for products or equipment.
Further information on AQEG can be found on the Group's
website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/aqeg/index.htm
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