The UK Supreme Court ruled that the British government needs to comply with EU air pollution limits which would mean tighter controls on diesel vehicles in the country. Advocacy group ClientEarth welcomed the decision, whereas the government is saying work is already under way. ECF is also very pleased that non-polluting cyclists, pedestrians will soon benefit from cleaner air. We have already laid down some key recommendations last November for urban emission reduction and the increase in cycling is part of the solution.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) Supreme Court has ruled that the British government must comply with European air pollution limits and this decision could lead to tighter controls on diesel vehicles in Britain’s largest cities.

British government behind deadline

 The case was brought against the Environment Secretary by campaign group ClientEarth who argued that cities including London, Birmingham and Leeds would not meet EU pollution limits until 2030 - 20 years after the 2010 deadline. According to the judgment the government must submit a new air quality plan to the European Commission (EC) by the end of the year. According to advocacy group ClientEarth air pollution causes the death of 29,000 people in the UK yearly - more than obesity and alcohol combined.

Ben Jaffey of ClientEarth told the court that the UK has been continuously breaching air pollution limits since January 2010 and even the extension expired in January 2015. The UK never applied to extension according to Jaffey and therefore remains in breach.

Government says work is already under way

However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that “work is already under way on revised plans - since February 2014 - to meet EU targets on NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) as soon as possible.” It has always been the government’s position to submit the plans before the end of this year, she added.

ClientEarth’s environmental lawyer, Alan Andrews told Sky News that the Supreme Court’s decision will save thousands of lives in the UK and the next government needs to make air pollution a top priority. He added that a national network of low-emission zones, from where the most polluting diesel vehicles are kept out, is the best and most effective solution to tackle this problem.

This could be a precedent for other EU member states

The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) is also very pleased that non-polluting cyclists, pedestrians will soon benefit from cleaner air. This is an important precedent for other EU member states and an inspiration for other NGOs and ECF members to take action for cleaner air for cyclists and all other citizens. Member states are urged to come up with more ambitious air quality plans in support of their cities.

ECF has already laid out some key recommendations in its groundbreaking study on Cycling and Urban Air Quality published in November 2014 in which it has been highlighted how emission reduction from road vehicles could be reduced and how the level of air quality could be increased. The study showed that a radical transformation of our transport system is needed. Small measures with no immediate impact are not sufficient, as the Supreme Court judgement shows.

Recommendations: put cycling on top for air quality and urban mobility plans

One of the main findings of the study was that technical measures alone are not enough, a more demand-side-focused approach is needed to reduce the impacts of transport and develop a more sustainable transport system.

Three pillars should be taken into consideration when the issue should be addressed:

• Avoid the need to travel to access goods and services, through efficient urban planning, communication technology, consolidation activities and demand management;

• Shift people and goods that need to be moved towards more inherently sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, public transport, rail and (where appropriate) water transport;

• Improve the environmental performance of vehicles by the adoption of low-emission vehicle technologies and more efficient operation of vehicles.

In line with this approach cycling measures are now present in the air quality and mobility plans of numerous cities around the world. In order to encourage cycling municipalities have to engage in developing the appropriate infrastructure (bike share schemes, differentiated tracks, end-of-trip facilities, parking slots etc.) carrying out positive information campaigns and more widely discouraging the use of private motorised transport through the adoption of policy instruments such as congestion charging or low-emission zones.

The most successful drivers for modal change are the development of appropriate cycling infrastructure and its correct integration with the public transport network. European case studies showed that a direct relationship between these variables and an increase in cycling modal share has been observed.

The key actors in developing cycling as part of the solution to urban air quality are the city authorities and they need to:

• Promote measures that shift residents from private motorised transport to cycling, rather than promoting cycling per se, to ensure that air quality benefits are generated;

• Integrate cycling measures as part of a wider mode shift package with a combination of ‘pull’ measures to directly attract car users and ‘push’ measure to more generally discourage car use;

• Complement cycling and other mode shift measures with technical measures to reduce the emissions from the remaining traffic such as public transport and delivery services.