In Southwark, multiple initiatives are underway in the fight for clean air.

The council is struggling to reduce air pollution in a new and ambitious plan to make the borough carbon-neutral by 2030.

Meanwhile, south London organisations such as Moms for Lungs are supporting the fight to improve air quality. 

And the local branch of the Green Party is trying to compute environmental data to ensure that the public has the facts.

In March 2019, the council declared a climate emergency and created a citizens’ jury made up of 25 residents. The jury is involved in the decision-making process on issues such as air pollution and carbon emissions. It is advised by an oversight panel of experts and officials.

Moms for Lungs is taking the battle for clean air to the streets by organising protests to raise awareness. It is campaigning against idling engines on the streets and air pollution near schools. It supports London mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Official claims that London’s air quality has significantly improved since 2016 are being challenged by the Green Party in Southwark. It says it independently analysed the air in multiple places and found a high level of toxic particles in Camberwell Green in 2017. The party said: “We cannot wait until 2020 for Sadiq Khan to start cleaning up Camberwell’s buses. He must act now to protect the health of a generation of children”. 

Carbon emissions in the atmosphere remain a major public health issue. The council said in its July 2020 Air Quality Report: “More than 8% of all deaths in the UK are linked to air pollution”. The borough’s 2017 Ward Profile shows worrying evidence on respiratory diseases in Camberwell. According to the report, “Camberwell Green has 70% more hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than England”.

Activists note that air pollution in Southwark is much in excess of that considered safe by the World Health Organisation. The Greens, who say tests showed dangerous toxicity of the air around the McDonald’s at Denmark Hill in Camberwell, are demanding stricter measures.

Even so, there is little data on carbon emissions, which makes the problem even harder. complex As the council itself has said: “To achieve our target of being carbon neutral by 2030, Southwark needs to know how much carbon it is producing now”.

That is a work in progress.