Plans to cut dangerous levels of air pollution from traffic across large parts of urban Scotland have been delayed by five years, putting the UK and Scottish governments at risk of multi-million pound fines for breaching environmental law.
Glasgow is not now expected to comply with air pollution safety limits until 2025, while Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and other conurbations won’t meet the limits until 2020. The delays mean Scotland has become deeply embroiled in a major legal case that has already found the UK government guilty of breaking air pollution law.
The delays have appalled environmentalists, who warn that thousands more people living in Scotland’s cities will suffer and die as a result. For the Scottish government, they were “disappointing”, while local authorities stressed the work they were doing to cut pollution.
Toxic particles from vehicle exhausts are blamed for killing at least 1,600 people a year in Scotland, and 166,000 a year across Western Europe. They can trigger heart attacks, aggravate lung diseases and cause infections.
The UK, along with other countries in Europe, agreed to an air pollution law that required levels of nitrogen dioxide gas in cities to be brought below safety limits by 2010. But because it had difficulties meeting this target, it applied for extensions until 2015.