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The UK could save £24bn through new measures to reduce air pollution and climate change introduced by Defra.
A new report examines the effects of air pollution, which costs the UK £15 billion each year, and suggests that they must be linked with tackling climate change targets in order to achieve greater environmental impact.
“We are already working together across government to tackle climate change and air pollution,” said environment minister Jim Fitzpatrick. “This new report shows that climate change and air pollutants often share the same sources, even through the effects are seen on different geographical scales.”
Fitzpatrick said that the promotion of non-combustion renewable sources of electricity, promoting the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and reducing agricultural demands for nitrogen will all increase air quality and tackle climate change.
Defra’s chief scientific adviser Bob Watson said: “We’ve seen time and again that dealing with environmental problems in isolation is neither effective nor efficient.”
“We need a co-ordinated view which confronts the benefits and complexities involved.”
A 2008 Defra study showed that achieving the UK’s climate change targets would bring benefits in terms of improved air quality worth £15bn by 2050. The study’s model showed that, following adjustments to the measures used to achieve climate change to also take into account air quality, that figure could reach £24bn.
This article was also featured on http://www.fm-world.co.uk |
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