Using the power of the law to bring about
end-to-end systematic change.

ClientEarth is a charity that uses the power of the law to protect people and the planet. We are international lawyers finding practical solutions for the world’s biggest environmental challenges. We are fighting climate change, protecting oceans and wildlife, making forest governance stronger, greening energy, making business more responsible and pushing for government transparency. We believe the law is a tool for positive change. From our offices in London, Brussels, Warsaw, Berlin and Beijing, we work on laws throughout their lifetime, from the earliest stages to implementation. And when those laws are broken, we go to court to enforce them.

ClientEarth's legal action

Due to the failure of successive governments to meet legal limits, ClientEarth has successfully taken the UK government to court three times between 2011 and 2018. The courts have required the UK government to produce and improve on national air quality plans and in turn the government has required 61 English local authorities to identify local solutions to meet legal limits in the shortest possible time. Greater London was also required to improve on its plans for an Ultra Low Emission Zone, the Scottish government committed to implementing four Low Emission Zones by 2020 and the Welsh government were required to produce their first ever air quality plan.

Central government has the legal duty to meet legal limits but has passed responsibility to local authorities that are already under strain and do not have the resources, expertise or policy levers to address this problem. This is resulting in many local authorities missing deadlines and producing weak plans.

What is ClientEarth calling for?

To urgently reduce illegal levels of air pollution and ensure people are able to breathe cleaner air, ClientEarth is calling for a national network of Clean Air Zones (CAZs). The government's own analysis has found that CAZs are the most effective measure to meet legal limits of air pollution in the shortest time possible. It is essential that CAZs are delivered through a nationally coordinated framework that provides ambition, clarity and certainty. This will allow businesses to plan effectively.

In addition to CAZs, the UK government must provide practical support for people and businesses to switch to cleaner forms of transport. There are many companies out there already taking action to make their fleets cleaner but help is needed to make the business case for investing in cleaner forms of transport at scale.

Working with members of the ClientEarth convened Clean Air Business Forum (current members are DHL, Tesla, UPS, National Grid and Enterprise Rent-A-Car) we have identified a number of measures which will help individuals and businesses transition to a zero emission transport system:

• Incentivise the uptake of Zero Emission Exhaust Vehicles (ZEEVs) to encourage the uptake of ZEEVs until they reach cost-parity with petrol and diesel counterparts.
  
  
• Increase funding for businesses developing technologies that support a zero emission transport system. This will give the UK a real stake in the future of automotive manufacturing, including cars, taxis, vans, buses and lorries, and create high quality jobs that are distributed across the country.
  
  
• Invest in charging and refuelling infrastructure. Increased funding and a clear, long-term plan for delivering for the rollout of hydrogen refuelling and battery charging infrastructure. This will help unlock the private sector investment necessary to help shape the UK’s ZEEV market
  
  
• Encourage fewer, not just newer, vehicles. A ‘mobility credit scheme’ to incentivise people to switch from an older polluting vehicle to a cleaner mode of transport. A traditional vehicle scrappage scheme whereby an old fossil fuel car is replaced by a newer one does not go far enough. Instead, anyone scrapping an old vehicle should be given a fixed sum of money to use as a ‘mobility credit’, which would contribute to the purchase of a cleaner mode of transport – including cleaner vehicles, car clubs or rentals, e-bikes, public transport season tickets, or ZEEVs. This should be delivered in a way that supports people on low incomes and Small and Medium sized Businesses (SMEs).

To further protect people's health, the government should introduce new clean air legislation that is fit for the 21st Century. The Environment Bill should include a legally binding commitment to meet safer WHO guideline levels for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution by 2030 at the very latest. There is also a need to improve, strengthen and clarify existing legislation: creating a new 'clean air duty' on all public bodies, and requiring national Healthy Air Plans to address all sources and with a particular role for central government to deliver against binding targets.

This would be an opportunity to help make the UK a world leader and set an ambitious direction of travel to help drive a healthy and green recovery.

Working with business

ClientEarth works closely with a range of progressive businesses to encourage more ambition and action from government which will help businesses play their role in cleaning up our air. If you would like to understand more about what we are asking for and how you can join our calls, please get in touch with: Dominic Phinn, Business Engagement Coordinator, Clean Air dphinn@clientearth.org

Join
The
Conversation

If you are a business fleet, transport, policy or government affairs professional, we hope you will be able to join us.

Our
Delivery
Partner

ClientEarth have enlisted the help of one of the UK’s most authoritative voices in clean fleet technology – GREENFLEET.

In reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic, GREENFLEET have taken the decision to repurpose ALL events. Where possible, events will now be broadcast ONLINE, under their new platform GF365. 

We find ourselves in unprecedented times. But despite the issues we all face… Business MUST go on. One of the biggest threats to the UK, before Covid-19, was poor air quality. And although the UK lockdown and limited activity on UK roads has seen a huge decline in CO₂ and NOx, when we are fortunate enough to return to some form of normality, so will the quality of our air too. That ‘normal’ is illegal.

So, now is NOT the time to sit back, relax and do nothing. As busy professionals, there is still work to be done… There is still work that CAN be done… And done from the safety and comfort of your home office, or even your sofa.

At GREENFLEET, we have been working hard, behind the scenes, to adapt the ways in which we can still help deliver the very latest, quality information that you come to expect. And at the same time, we have developed a platform that will enable you to network and engage with leaders and experts that can help you in your quest to implement a smarter and cleaner transport operation.

We are delighted to bring you GF365 – Online Events: Delivered.

GF365 are delighted to have been selected to deliver the ClienEarth Holding Our Breath event.