Air pollu)on in court
Ugo Taddei, ClientEarth
Green People, Green Judges Utrecht
9
thMarch 2018
• ClientEarth is a non-profit environmental law organisa)on
• We use law, science and policy to tackle key environmental challenges
• We work on climate change, energy, environmental jus)ce, biodiversity, forests and human health
Introduc)on to ClientEarth
“Air pollu5on is the world’s largest single environmental health risk” (WHO, 2014)
Air pollu)on and human health
European Environment Agency (2017) - here
Health impacts in Europe
The right to clean air – the theory
Substance
Limit values (Art. 13)
The Air Quality Direc)ve 2008/50/EC
Procedure
• Monitoring
• Repor)ng
• Air quality plans
The right to clean air – the reality
Concentra)ons of PM 10 in 2015
Source: EEA (2017)
Concentra)ons of NO 2 in 2015
Source: EEA (2017)
Air pollu)on in court
Access to jus)ce
in environmental mabers
EU Clean air li)ga)on
Legal bable for clean air in the UK
Image: Sandra Mode (Unsplash)
The High Court, 2011
• Government in breach of Direc)ve
BUT
• Serious poli)cal and economic ques)ons
• Enforcement for European
Commission
RIGHT TO CLEAN AIR
• Case C-237-07 Janecek v Freistaat Bayern
• Case C-404/13 – ClientEarth v UK (SoSEFRA)
The Court of Jus)ce of
the European Union,
Luxembourg
The Supreme Court, 2015
“The new Government […] should be leA in no doubt as to the need for immediate ac5on to address this issue.”
Lord Jus)ce Carnwath
The High Court, 2016
“the Secretary of State fell into error … in fixing on a projected
compliance date of 2020 (and 2025 for London); and by adop5ng too op5mis5c a model for future
emissions”
Mr Jus)ce Garnham
Legal test for Air Quality Plans
1. Aim to achieve compliance as soon as possible;
2. Choose a route to compliance which reduces human exposure as quickly as possible; and
3. Ensure that compliance with the limit values is not just
possible but likely.
The High Court, 2018
“It is now eight years since compliance with the 2008 Direc5ve should have been achieved. This is the third, unsuccessful, aVempt the Government has made at devising an AQP which complies
with the Direc5ve and the domes5c Regula5ons.
Each successful challenge has been mounted by a small charity, for which the costs of such
li5ga5on cons5tute a significant challenge. In the meanwhile, UK ci5zens have been exposed to
significant health risks.”
Mr Jus)ce GarnhamGermany
State City
North Rhine-Westphalia Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf Baden-Würbemberg Stubgart
Bavaria Munich
Hessen Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden
Image: Håkon Sataøen (Unsplash)
Düsseldorf, Munich, Stubgart:
Court-ordered restric)ons on diesel vehicles
Image: gotoolephoto (flickr)
Federal Administra)ve Court in Leipzig, 2018
Thank you
Ugo Taddei Lawyer
ClientEarth
utaddei@clientearth.org t. +32 (0)2 808 4323
www.clientearth.org
@ClientEarth
