5 minute GAP - What is Ella's Law and why is it so important?
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah spoke to Global Action Plan's Désirée Abrahams about Ella's Law, the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, what this bill hopes to accomplish, and what we can all do to help make it happen.
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If you prefer to read rather than watch, the transcription is here:
Désirée: So I have a human rights background, and when I joined Global Action Plan and I heard about the Clean Air (Human Rights) bill, I was really excited because for me, you know, clean air and human rights were being placed together.
And so, you know, I have this particular interest, but I know that there are lots of people in the UK that may not have heard about the Clean Air (Human Rights) bill, also known as Ella’s Law. And so just for them, I'd love for you to tell me about it and what it is. And really. Maybe we can have a chat about how we can make it happen.
Rosamund: Yeah. Okay. So there were certain processes that we went through before we actually got here. I think after the inquest I have to confess, I spoke to my lawyer, Jocelyn Coburn, who's a human rights lawyer, and we did think about a law, but we weren't really sure exactly what. Jocelyn is, she is a human rights lawyer. She's not environmental. I think what really changed my mind has to be the Environment Act last year.
I think my hope was, it was a huge hope and it was a huge disappointment, that I wanted PM 2.5 in there which is the worst pollutant which is causing so much harm. And the most we got was a consultation and the consultation I felt was actually botched up. Majority of people around the country, if you say to them there was a consultation on this last year, did you, did you know about it? No, sorry, it was 2021, not 2022. Yeah, I think environment act was actually 2021. I think most people would say to, you no, we never heard about it. And I'm not going to say it was on purpose, but for something so important about health that everybody should know about, I felt it was kept on a low key.
And then the Environment Act went through. Then I got to hear about “world beating targets”. And I thought the most important pollutant isn't even in there. The thing that ultimately cost my daughter her life isn’t in there. PM 2.5 is on every scientific paper, more or less. You know, it's to do with wood burning, emissions. So I thought, how can this be world beating? And that's what for me, inspired Ella's Law.
And I know Jenny Jones very well as part of the Green Party, and I knew she was writing a bill with Simon Birkett. And she actually asked me at one stage, you know, obviously they sent it to me bit by bit, you know, when they were doing it. And she said to me, “Would you mind if we dedicate this to your daughter?” And one of the reasons why I was really interested in it as well is it talked about indoor air pollution and indoor air pollution was something Stephen Holgate and I had spoken about in January 2020. But because of COVID, it suddenly got pushed sideways.
So I think the fact that it's included mould. So the Clean Air bill includes mould. And I know that if you have damp and mould that in itself can exacerbate asthma. So, yeah, I think all along, when they were they were drafting it. I read it, I sent it to my lawyer. We were in approval of it. And I thought it was a great way to also remember her. And it also helped with my campaign, you know, campaigning. And I met David Boyd, who's a special rapporteur for the United Nations. And I think I was so disappointed, I think at the time of meeting him, because that's when the Environment Act, the PM 2.5 didn't go through. But one of the things... I actually asked David, how vital was this thing which I'm doing clean as a human right? And he went to me it is absolutely vital. He said, Look, let me tell you, ten years ago, this is where water was. And now since water passed and he did say the UK doesn't you know, the UK does sign up to these treaties, but they don’t really observe them that much. But he said, don't let that put you off. So he said the hope is if you can get this through and I'll do everything I can to support you, even if the UK doesn’t, this is a worldwide issue.
So hopefully other countries, this will inspire other countries to actually take it on. And that, you know talking to David really inspired me. And he also just got the healthy air... No, not healthy air, the healthy environment. Sorry he had also just pushed that through as well. And it had taken him years and years and years and clean air is part of that. Yeah. So let's be very, very clear.
But we thought it would be great also if it stood alone. So this is in order for clean air to stand alone, and you and I have communicated over the children's rights because we know it's really, really difficult. And I said to you, I am very happy to because the House of Lords taught me you need to compromise because in order to get this bill through, we had to compromise. And I said to you, I'm very happy to support the child's rights, even because at least it is a step towards. So yeah, it is a step towards having clean as a human right. Let's start with the most vulnerable first. And that was my thinking behind that.
I do hope one day that clean air will become a human right for everybody. But even the child's right to clean, that is a start. So whatever movement we can make now, if it's child's rights, if it's clean as a human right in the UK, anything we can do. I feel this is a race against time. When it comes to health. And the reason why I say that is we now know between 7 to 9 million people die every year. And one of my challenges for Dr. Tedros even was we keep on saying this figure, what is happening about it, because we all know the figure, it’s well established, but the figure keeps on repeating year on year. So I hope this, Ella’s Law, goes some way to changing that.
So what I’m going to do is actually explain to people what this law actually is if that's okay with you.
Désirée: That would be great Rosamund, thanks.
Rosamund: So I am going to read little bits out because I think it's really important that people actually understand. It is that's important. I tend not to not read notes, but I think on this one I am actually going to and that is the reason why I'm doing.
So what Ella’s Law would do is to enshrine the human right to clean air precisely and explicitly in UK law. I did that because there have been mutterings in the UK that the government was threatening to take us out of the ECHR And what I worried about is that I need to get this into UK law. So just in case, I'm not saying we are coming out, but just in case people's right to clean air will still be protected by law. And that's why I have said UK law and I have asked the lawyers, Okay: it is the quickest, cheapest and best way to improve public health and fight climate change because it will improve the quality of the decision making by the government and public authorities literally overnight. It would tackle air pollution and greenhouse gases altogether to improve public health, the environment and climate.
What it will also do, it will match and exceed the EU's latest proposals revisions of ambient air quality in law. This is due to come in in 2030 and it will establish a clear pathway to comply with the W.H.O.. New Air Quality Guidelines. These guidelines came into being in 2021. This also will include indoor air in places of work where health and safety provisions apply, for example, residential and new development. Now, most importantly, it places duties on local authority and others to reduce mould. It would also give the UK the best air quality in the world. So if Ella’s Law passed, we would then have world beating air quality targets. But right now we actually do not have them.
And I will end ended by saying that it is very important to understand that all the non-communicable diseases, for example, cardiovascular, most cardiovascular, most cancers, strokes, obesity, stillbirth, depression, suicides, low sperm counts, I could go on on, you know, dementia, all of these illnesses please are linked to or contributed to by air pollution. And that is why Ella’s Law needs to become law. We need to look at prevention rather than people getting ill in the first place. And it is a race against time. So I am asking everybody we are going to have on our website, LinkedIn, everywhere a link to Mr. Sunak himself to write to him. And because the government ultimately can make Ella’s Law law, they have that power. They have a majority of 71 and we want to appeal to Mr. Sunak that this is something the British public really, really cares about.