City leaders call on government to take action on air pollution at Clean Air Summit – Unicef UK responds
14 February 2019– At the #LoveCleanAir Summit today, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, city leaders and UK 100 will call on government to take urgent action on air pollution in the upcoming Environment Bill. Unicef UK responds:
Mike Penrose, Executive Director at Unicef UK, said:
“Unicef UK backs the calls of city leaders to ministers today, which echo our own calls on government to take action on this growing health crisis – and crucially, put children’s health at the heart of its work on air pollution.
“Children have a fundamental right to grow up in a clean and safe environment but the persistent, illegal breaches of air pollution limits across the UK are an unacceptable violation of this. The UK is home to more children suffering from respiratory conditions than anywhere else in Europe. Every 20 minutes a child experiencing an asthma attack is admitted to hospital.
“We urgently need a public, legally binding commitment to reduce air pollution to acceptable levels, a national strategy that prioritises action for children, and ring-fenced funding to implement this – so that no child is denied their right to clean air.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For more information, please contact:
Ceri Gautama, 020 7375 6016, [email protected]
Unicef UK Media Team, 0207 375 6030, [email protected]
About Unicef
Unicef is the world’s leading organisation for children, promoting the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
Unicef UK raises funds to protect children in danger, transform their lives and build a safer world for tomorrow’s children. As a registered charity we raise funds through donations from individuals, organisations and companies and we lobby and campaign to keep children safe. Unicef UK also runs programmes in schools, hospitals and with local authorities in the UK.
For more information please visit unicef.org.uk