16.00 Addressing Air Pollution in Net Zero work.pdf

1. Addressing Air Quality in Net Zero Work
Routes to Clean Air Conference 2023
Sarah Legge, Associate Director, Arup

2. Addressing Air Quality in Net Zero Work
• “Net Zero impacts on air quality”
• Addressing air pollution in Net Zero work
• How we can build in air pollution considerations into long term plans
• How we can integrate action in the short term
• Further support

3. Impacts of Net Zero on air quality
These look at
what the impact
could be,
I am interested
in how we can
change that.

4. Why now?
Air pollution pressures
• Environment Act and new PM2.5 targets
• New pressure to address PM2.5 through LAQM
• New World Health Organization guidelines
• Emerging issues – new dominant sources and
balance of indoor and outdoor air quality
Climate pressures
• Extreme weather events - storms, temperatures, droughts, wildfires
Politicisation of environmental action
Credit: Dave Sanders for The New York Times

5. Changes and Impacts of Net Zero
Over the long term, we expect:
• Major technological changes to how we live, moving away from fossil
fuels and disposable economy
• Changes in how we live:
– increasing urban living, including high-density buildings
– think of mobility instead of transport
• Challenges from a changing climate
– Sea level rises, ecosystem damage, urban heat, health impacts, and more

6. Recent Air Quality & Climate Projects
• Defra - Research into Air Quality Impacts of New &
Emerging Low-Carbon Technologies (with WSP)
• Impact on Urban Health – Construction Plant
Emissions: Toolkit and Exemplar Sites
– See Sam Bradley’s talk about this tomorrow
• Luton Airport – Net Zero and Air Quality Strategy
• C40 Cities – Urban Heat Strategy & Breathe Cities
• Canadian Green Shipping Corridors

7. Designing Air Quality into Long Term Plans
• Better designed measures for common sources, especially at an early stage
• Role of R&D and pilot projects, getting air quality impacts considered here
means these are addressed in roll out and wider adoption
• Asking questions helps raise awareness of potential benefits and risks
• Make air pollution impacts a KPI for climate measures
• How we transition to a new technology or fuel can be as important as what the
technology is
• Building into strategic long term plans – eg Local Plans, Strategic Transport
Planning
• Effective planning for resilience, eg urban heat islands, health and nature.

8. Engagement and Empowerment
• What motivates people?
• When and where are the impacts?
• Make it personal
• Recognise benefits in other projects
• Empower through raising awareness and giving choices
• Bring together different policy and programme owners
• Engage with programmes with a narrow focus
• Tackling environmental inequalities and injustice in impacts and measures

9. Opportunities during transition to Net Zero
• Assess to capture opportunities and avoid unintended consequences
• New tools which quantify both air pollution and carbon emissions allow us to
optimise for both
• Locating projects to maximise impact – focus climate actions which reduce air
pollutant emissions in areas of high pollution to give additional benefits.
• LAQM and Climate Action Planning - opportunities for better optimisation and
cheaper and more cost-effective policies.
• “Decarbonisation+” - consider the role of Black Carbon PM (a ‘Short Lived
Climate Pollutant’) and Ozone.

10. Driving action with PM2.5
• The Environment Act introduced new targets for PM2.5
• The 2023 Air Quality Strategy encourages more action
from Local Authorities on PM2.5.
• Limited proportion of PM2.5 is from local emissions, large
proportion is background pollution.
• Local PM2.5 emissions are often black carbon PM.
• Key sources are fossil fuels and biomass combustion, eg
road traffic, airports, shipping, domestic burning, and
diesel generators.

11. Trends in PM2.5
emissions in London
Source: London Atmospheric Emissions
Inventory 2019 Update Summary Note,
April 2023

12. IES Environmental Policy Implementation Community (EPIC)
Guidance on Air Quality and Climate Change
• This year, Environmental Protection UK merged with
the IES to form EPIC.
• EPIC is open and free to all IES members.
• EPIC is updating the 2013 Air Quality and Climate
Change practical guidance for local authorities.
• An exposure draft will be produced shortly, calling for
further evidence and expert contributions.
• For more information, contact Ellie@the-ies.org
EPUK IES merger

13. IES Environmental Policy Implementation Community (EPIC)
New Guidance launched this month
• EPIC has updated and this month re-released
EPUK's guidance for developers on garages and petrol
stations.
• This serves as a guidebook to the hidden infrastructure
and ground contamination that may be present, aimed
at supporting redevelopment activities involving
ground disturbance at such sites.
• https://www.the-ies.org/resources/you-dig-whats-beneath-your

14. Contact
Associate Director, UK Air Quality team
Sarah Legge
Thank you.
Sarah.Legge@arup.com

16. Interactions of climate change
and air quality - recap
Air pollution impacts on climate change
• Black Carbon PM2.5 & Ozone
• Action on Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP) could slow down
warming by 2050 by 0.6°C, due to their short lifetimes
• Atmospheric chemistry, high pollution episodes, especially summer
smogs, extra health impacts and vegetation/ecosystem effects
• Transport, buildings, power & heat, industry
• National, city and local governments, developers, industry, consultancy
Climate change impacts on air pollution
Common emission sources (& actors)
Pollution map of London showing impact of one climatic metric- temperature
Source: AQEG