Air pollution and inequality

That this House expresses its concern at the recent findings of the Environment Agency’s State of the Environment report; notes that air pollution is the single biggest environmental threat to people’s health in the UK; further notes that many environmental factors, such as pollution and flooding, have been found to contribute to an increase in mental health conditions; is further concerned that access to nature is not equally distributed across our society and that exposure to pollution mirrors that difference; recognises that those living in more deprived areas experience the poorest quality of environment, as well as worse health, and that those facts are linked; asserts that in Tower Hamlets, according to campaigners, more than 40 per cent of the borough’s population live with unacceptable air quality; further asserts that examples such as Tower Hamlets often reflect the higher levels of inequality experienced by BAME communities; and calls on the Government to implement clean air policies, accompanied by an equalities report, to ensure that air quality levels are equal across our society and to ensure that the right to clean air is not determined by income or ethnic background.