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Over the last decade, the amount of harmful small particle air pollution caused by domestic burning has more than doubled, but most people are still unaware that lighting fires in our homes poses a serious threat to our health and the planet.

If more people in the UK were aware of the harms of wood burning, would we still see the same levels of burning that we see today? This is just one of the many questions that was posed at Global Action Plan’s first Clean Air Night Summit on 24 January 2024, as we brought together leading local authorities, experts and campaigners to seek solutions to this burning issue.

Global Action Plan’s Director of Clean Air, Larissa Lockwood opened the event by thanking all the organisations and individuals who supported the first Clean Air Night:

“It really has been so powerful to see so many organisations and advocates having this much-needed conversation about domestic burning in the public domain and hopefully this has given us all the confidence to keep talking and keep campaigning on this.” 

The Clean Air Night Summit then kicked off with the premiere of our campaign film, ‘The Enlightenment’, which features health, environmental and economic experts debunking myths about burning in the home.  

We then had presentations from local authorities that are leading the way on this burning issue, including Clean Air Night partner Hertfordshire County Council and founding supporters Surrey Air Alliance and Lancaster City Council.

Sarah Perman, Director of Public Health at Hertfordshire County Council, explained why wood burning is an important issue for the Council:

“Over the last 15 years or so in Hertfordshire, we’ve seen an increase in new installations of wood burners in people's homes – a trend that is repeated across the UK – and nationally we know that domestic burning is now the UK’s single biggest source of fine particulate matter pollution.

“People have different reasons for burning wood, but if everyone knew about the facts, would we see the same level of burning that we see today? Could providing information now reduce the future negative impacts on health? That’s why the information that Clean Air Night is bringing to the public is so necessary in helping to inform people’s choices. It’s important to keep warm this winter and no one should go without heat, but we do want to encourage a discussion about healthy alternatives to wood burning.”

Lisa Harvey-Vince, Health Protection Team Manager at Surrey County Council, explained why Surrey Air Alliance chose to support Clean Air Night:

“Whether it’s a lifestyle choice or a necessity, we wanted to raise awareness of the health impacts of wood burning to help people make informed choices.”

She also looked to the future by highlighting the need to shift social norms so that wood burning is no longer socially acceptable:

“Shining a light on the uncomfortable truth about wood burning is the start of the conversation, and like many campaigns before, this is another public health issue that people don’t always want to hear about but think about the difference we can make. Maybe in a few years’ time, we will look back at wood burning as being as socially unacceptable as smoking in indoor public places is today.”

Dr Melissa Parnell, Environmental Protection Officer and Air Quality Lead at Lancaster City Council also explained why Clean Air Night is important to them:

“We’ve chosen to support the Clean Air Night campaign because air pollution as we know is the single biggest environmental threat to public health in the UK, and domestic burning has a significant role to play in that.”

She also provided insight into the local wood burning problem in Lancaster:

“We receive hundreds of complaints each year relating to smoke and domestic burning and so we acknowledge that for the public and local residents it is an emotive issue.”

We then opened the floor to attendees to ask questions of these local authorities and our panel of experts, which included Clean Air Champion and Guardian air quality columnist Dr Gary Fuller, public health expert Dr Anandita Pattnaik, and sustainable housing and energy expert Dr Donal Brown.

Dr Donal Brown highlighted the economic implications of buying wood to burn in your home:

“The piece of research we did with Global Action Plan showed that in almost all instances with purchasing wood fuel, that tends to be more expensive than natural gas heating.”

He also urged caution when considering alternative fuels made from waste products like coffee logs, with market research showing that they are sold in relatively small volumes and are therefore even more expensive than buying wood in bulk, as well as echoing concerns about their toxicity.

Dr Anandita Pattnaik discussed why wood burning is bad for our health. She explained how burning wood produces particulate matter pollution, which when inhaled enters the bloodstream and can not only affect every organ in the body, but also trigger an inflammatory response and harm the whole body.  

She also told attendees that this air pollution can affect everyone, no matter their age:

“There is very concrete evidence that it affects every stage of life, starting from the womb when you are a foetus, and then once you’re born and throughout your life. It affects everyone differently and some age groups are more vulnerable, for example children.”

Dr Gary Fuller answered questions about the environmental impact of wood burning, explaining that burning wood is an inefficient and polluting way to heat your home:

“After a night in front of the fire, you’ll have more CO2 in the atmosphere than there would be if you’d done the same amount of heating with a fossil fuel.”

He added:

“When we go into a woodland and we are removing wood and chopping down trees, we’re degrading the capability of that woodland system to actually absorb CO2. So, by chopping down a tree and burning it not only do you release more CO2 than you would have done using another method, but you degrade the forest as a system and its capability to absorb CO2.”

Throughout the event, attendees took the opportunity to network and find ways to collaborate to tackle the issue of wood burning, by sharing the latest research and insights from their campaigning, as well as personal stories about the impact wood burning is having on their families and feedback they have received from their audiences on the topic. Participants also discussed what policy measures they would like to see implemented, what resources they would like to see created to change people’s perceptions of wood burning, and what their hopes are for the future of this campaign.  

You can watch a recording of part of the Summit below. To be the first to hear about future events on clean air organised by Global Action Plan, sign up to our newsletter now.