Andrew Parsons/REX/Shutterstock

The government was supposed to unveil its latest plans to tackle nitrogen dioxide pollution on Monday 24 April – plans that it was ordered to produce after losing two long-running court cases brought by campaign group ClientEarth.

But on Friday 21 April, the government made a last-minute application to delay publication until after the UK’s general election on 8 June, claiming it would violate election propriety if they were unveiled earlier.

Its application was largely rejected on 27 April. The judge ruled the plans might affect local elections being held on 4 May, but said the draft plans must be published on 9 May.


In many towns in the UK, nitrogen dioxide frequently exceed legal limits that came into effect in 2010 as part of EU regulations. Several other EU countries have been – or are being – sued for their failure to comply with the limits.

Nitrogen dioxide is not as harmful as particulate pollution, but may still be responsible for several thousand premature deaths each year in the UK alone.

The UK does meet limits for particulate pollution but these limits are much laxer. The EU limits allow twice as much particulate pollution as the World Health Organization recommends, whereas the limits for nitrogen dioxide match those recommended by the WHO.

There is some evidence that nanoparticles may be the most dangerous form of air pollution, and existing laws do not impose any effective limits on their levels. In fact, levels of nanoparticles could be increasing in European countries due to the rising number of diesel vehicles.

ClientEarth is also threatening to take the UK to court for failing to comply with the 2008 Climate Act, under which it is legally bound to slash greenhouse emissions.