NEWS
EVENTS
ClientEarth wins legal battle against UK Government
Client Earth defeat the Government in the courts over the country's toxic air.
The Government suffered an embarrassing lose in the High Court this month, after a judge ruled the plan to cut pollution levels in this country weren't enough.
It was declared that the Environment Secretary 'fell into error' with the purposed timetable to meet up with lawful standards of air quality 'by adopting too optimistic a model for future emissions'.
The verdict signaled a victory for the green law firm ClientEarth who called the Air Quality Plan with the projected compliance date of 2020 and 2025 in London as 'woefully inadequate'.
The latest ruling against the Government's plans follows last years Supreme Court ruling, also won by ClientEarth. Immediate action was called as levels of nitrogen dioxide were causing 10,000 early deaths in London. A new plan was revealed by the Government, but ClientEarth believe this fell short of what's needed making it unlawful.
The court agreed with the green campaigns declaring the plans to cut emissions as not good enough. Following the ruling a Defra spokeswomen said 'we accept this courts judgement' adding 'we will now carefully consider this ruling, and our next steps, in detail'.
Nitrogen dixoide limits were introduced into law in 1991 from the EU, originally meant to be achieved by 2010. The courts ruling may cause some more problems with the Heathrow expansion, enforcing campaigners environmental and air quality arguments.
