Air Pollution Damaging Public Health

That this Parliament notes with concern the findings of the Royal College of Physicians report, A breath of fresh air: responding to the health challenges of modern air pollution, showing how air pollution affects and causes disease in almost every organ in the body; understands that the report follows the Royal College of Physicians’ 2016 publication with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution, which illustrated the dangerous short-term and long-term impact of air pollution on public health; further understands that the report estimates that air pollution causes up to 30,000 deaths and costs £27 billion in the UK each year; notes that, in 2023, people living in the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods experienced noticeably higher particulate matter concentrations than those in 20% least deprived; agrees with the report’s recommendation that national, regional and local government across the UK, including the Scottish Government, should recognise air pollution as a public health issue, as well as an environmental issue, and pays tribute to the work of more than 30 clinical and academic experts, led by Professor Stephen Holgate CBE, Dr Suzanne Bartington and Dr Gary Fuller, who were involved with the report.