What the ruling will mean
- Extensive low emission zones – similar to London’s LEZ
- More congestion charging to limit vehicular access to major cities
- Greater incentivisation of ultra low emission and zero emission vehicles
- Business car managers of SME small fleets will need to consider car choice and / or extra costs associated with the implementation of clean air policies
BUSINESS drivers of diesel vehicles could soon see extra congestion charging and low emission zones popping up throughout the UK’s main cities.
And SMEs will be hit by extra ‘taxes’ following the Supreme Court ruling that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution.
The ruling is a significant victory for anti-pollution campaigners who started legal action after the UK repeatedly breached EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2 or NOx) in the air.
NO2 is produced largely by emissions from diesel vehicles and is linked to a range of respiratory illnesses which contribute to an estimated 29,000 deaths associated to pollution each year in the UK.
In a unanimous ruling, a panel of five judges, headed by the court’s president Lord Neuberger, ordered “that the government must prepare and consult on new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission… no later than December 31 2015”.
The case had been brought by ClientEarth, a group of environmental lawyers who acted after the Supreme Court declared In May 2013 that the UK had breached its obligations under the European Commission’s Air Quality Directive.
While the original deadline to meet the directive’s air quality targets lapsed on 1 January 2010, ClientEarth says that under existing plans, urban areas such as London, Birmingham and Leeds, would not meet pollution limits until 2030.
