Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the World Health Organisation's air pollution limits on particulate matter; and what plans her Department has to adopt those targets.

In July 2019, the Government published a report assessing the progress that will be made towards World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines under a range of scenarios. The report concluded that while significant progress would be made, additional action would be required in large urban areas such as London. The analysis did not outline a pathway to achieve the WHO guideline level for fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) across the country, and did not take into account full economic viability and practical deliverability.

The Environment Bill, which will be introduced shortly, will establish a legally binding duty to set a target for PM_2.5, demonstrating our commitment to action on the air pollutant that has the most significant impact on human health. We are committed to setting challenging targets and following an evidence based process, seeking advice from a range of experts, in addition to giving consideration to the WHO’s air quality guidelines. We need to ensure that the target is based on realistic pathways, robust science and full economic analysis to ensure that it is both ambitious and achievable, and focus on how the greatest public health benefits can be achieved.