Raising public awareness of the harms of air pollution from domestic burning and pushing for policy change, in collaboration with the wider sector.
Driven by a rise in urban homes installing wood burning stoves, domestic burning is now one of the UK's biggest sources of toxic fine particle air pollution and a public health problem. A relatively small proportion burn wood – the majority in homes with another form of heating – but the health impacts are felt by all. This is a clear equity issue that should be addressed urgently by the UK government. We developed policy recommendations with experts that if implemented would effectively phase out air pollution from urban domestic burning by 2030. We look forward to working with policymakers to ensure that ambitious action is taken to tackle this burning issue.
Larissa Lockwood, Director of Policy and Campaigns
Take Action
Use our Clean Air Night 2026 comms pack to share the facts about wood burning and spark a conversation across the country
The change we want to see
Our goal is to end the domestic wood burning fires and stoves in urban areas by 2030. We’re working towards this goal on projects funded by Impact on Urban Health.
Wood burning in our homes is a key cause of air pollution and has significant impacts both on people’s health and the environment. Stopping the burning of wood and solid fuels in stoves and open fires requires a range of policies and measures from central and local government and industry.
In the UK, domestic burning is a significant contributor to outdoor air pollution, as the largest source of PM₂.₅ pollution (27%), one of the most harmful air pollutants.
It’s also a problem inside as homes with a log burner have – on average – three times higher levels of PM₂.₅ than those without. Exposure to PM₂.₅ and domestic burning fumes have been linked to respiratory and heart diseases and cancer.
The industrial burning of wood for energy in power stations (bioenergy) in the UK is also creating serious health and environmental impacts both in the UK and internationally.
We are raising awareness and providing solutions
We introduced the annual Clean Air Night campaign in 2024 to spark conversations on wood burning, sharing the health and environmental harms of wood burning. We developed a policy pathway to reduce air pollution by phasing out domestic burning by 2030 with support from Impact on Urban Health, which we launched at a parliamentary reception sponsored by Afzal Khan MP, in partnership with Health Equals, to shine a light on the negative impacts of wood burning
We collaborate and coordinate efforts with other actors in the sector, for example by chairing the Healthy Air Coalition sub-group on domestic burning. We host a centralised hub of resources for organisations across the nation to use in their work to reduce domestic burning.
POLICY PATHWAY
5 barriers to effective policy measures to reduce air pollution through domestic burning and how to tackle them
HEALTH HARMS
Health experts, local authorities and campaigners explore together how air pollution from wood burning harms everyone's health
New research quantifies wood burning health harms. This 1-hour webinar discusses the impact on public health and the potential health benefits of policy intervention.
Thank you to our partners
Supporting our work on domestic burning
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