U.K. Failure to Curb Nitrogen Dioxide Causes 23,500 Premature Deaths Annually: Lawyers

摘要

The U.K. government's continued failure to meet targets to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels poses a significant public health risk that causes 23,500 premature deaths annually, environmental lawyers said Oct. 18. Legislation introduced in December 2015 to cut dangerous levels of airborne nitrogen dioxide "gave disproportionate and unlawful weight to cost and political sensitivity," Nathalie Lieven, a lawyer for ClientEarth, said at a trial probing whether the government acted lawfully and proportionally in trying to meet the targets. European laws were introduced in 1999 in a bid to tackle air pollution across the continent with countries given until 2010 to meet them. The U.K. is split into 43 zones to monitor nitrogen dioxide levels, and only six have complied with regulations, Lieven said.