The
Greener Jobs Alliance gives a response to the Government Air Pollution
Plan published in July 2017 and identifies how union and community
activists can respond.
No
one can say that the Government hasn’t been given a chance to get this
right. We’ve had 3 court cases since 2011 all pointing out that the UK
is in breach of its legal duty. In May 2017 a consultation document
where the overwhelming response was that more needs to be done. Finally,
on July 26th, we got the publication of ‘The UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide emissions’. LINK
Not
surprisingly the ‘plan’ has been panned for failing to tackle this
public health emergency. By not adequately addressing what should be
done now, rather than in
23 years time, the Government has condemned thousands of people to a
premature death. Advocating a ban on petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040
is all well and good, but we needed a clear framework for the urgent
implementation of clean air zones before 2020. Other shortcomings are
highlighted in articles published following the launch of the report.
The government's air pollution plan is a beautiful smokescreen - Guardian Environment We
agree with Client Earth’s James Thornton’s observation that “it is
little more than a shabby rewrite of the previous draft plans and is
underwhelming and lacking in urgency. Having promised to make air
quality a top priority, Michael Gove appears to have fallen at the first
hurdle.”
What happened to the ‘polluter pays principle’?
The
Greener Jobs Alliance called for specific duties to be placed on
businesses. In our submission to the consultation, we pointed out that ‘There should be a legal duty on large businesses to carry out an emissions assessment. For
example, a single employer may be responsible for generating thousands
of vehicle movements every day by their staff and suppliers. They need
to provide evidence that they have a transport policy in place to bring
their emissions down within clear time limits’.
It is part of a system that fails to make oil, gas and coal companies
face up to the wider social costs inflicted by their products. In fact,
they end up getting massive subsidies. For example, earlier this year
files were leaked showing £4.9 billion provided to fossil fuel firms in
export finance by the government since 2010. LINK Far
from setting out any obligations on employers, the Government plan
advocates the exact opposite. We are told in Para 47 that ‘The UK government is clear that any action to improve air quality must not be done at the expense of local businesses’.
So much for the principle of the polluter pays. Most air pollution is
generated by work-related activities and yet the individual and the
state pick up the bill. The need for a focus on employer’s
responsibilities makes it even more important that trades unions start
to get serious about air pollution. This is a workplace issue and must
be treated as such.
Mandatory Clean Air Zones needed
Defra’s
own evidence makes it clear that charge zones are the most effective
way to tackle pollution. Yet local authorities don’t have to produce
plans until December 2018. Implementation could take much longer and
cash strapped councils will find it hard to comply. A campaign is needed
urgently to turn CAZs that charge or ban dirty vehicles from a last
resort to a first resort measure. They must be coordinated and funded by
central government. This is a national public health crisis and
requires a national response. Who should pay for this? Large businesses
that fail to show effective measures for reducing their
distribution/supply and travel emissions.
What should trade unions do?
Union members measure air pollution outside and inside the workplaceCurrently,
the UCU is the only union with national policy on tackling air
pollution. Every union needs to draw up plans for involving their safety
reps in making this an occupational health priority. Indoor and outdoor
pollution are often linked. Toxic air kills whether a worker is exposed
inside or outside a building. It is also an area that lends itself to
cross union engagement through trades union councils linking up at a
city and regional level with community activists. Unions also need to
get involved in consultations over the introduction and implementation
of Clean Air Zones. In addition to London, there are 28 other local
authorities in England that are required to take local action in ’the
shortest possible time’. These are referenced on Page 31 of the report.
Unions need to check this list and prioritise how they will respond.
