Our final magazine of the year is now available to read online, looking back at the past 12 months of policy, politics, challenges and developments in the bid to bring down emissions and reduce air pollution.
It has been a fraught year, to say the least. 2022 has been defined by one phrase – Collins Word of the Year no less: ‘permacrisis’. It’s not hard to see why.
Anyone struggling for examples should dive into our final Air Quality News issue of the year, which offers an overview of the most important stories the team and contributors have published since January.
There’s the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy independence, heavily reliant on renewable technology, while the resulting fuel crisis has led to a spike in wood burning sales here in the UK. Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone failings are brought into focus, and we also look at new approaches to carbon taxation, Pakistan’s devastating climate-caused flooding, and the need to approach air pollution with trans-boundary policies.
Elsewhere in this issue, last month’s COP27 climate summit is explored, with the key takeaways from the event summarised into bite-sized chunks for those who missed the headlines. And we also look back at the highlights from Air Quality News‘ two annual events, the National Air Quality Conference in London, and Manchester’s Northern Air Quality Conference – leading dates in the industry diary, we’re thrilled to be expanding with more regional conferences in the new year.
Bringing things more up to date, we explore both the new (and supposedly improved) Net Zero strategy, looking at its merits and potential shortcomings, before doing the same with the new Clean Air Bill, also known as Ella’s Law, which recently passed committee stage in the House of Lords. In depth features also cover the shocking disparity in air pollution impacts, with the most disadvantaged, and minority ethnic communities bearing the brunt of this public health crisis.
Although often considered an urban issue, this issue’s Local Government story turns our attention to the problems rural areas face in terms of air pollution. Then we consider Downing Street’s decision to end road tax exemption for electric vehicles, asking what this will mean for overall sales just years ahead of the forthcoming ban on bringing new petrol and diesel vehicles to market. A potential risk of two steps forward, one step back, our latest Big Interview features Wilke Reints of Yunex Traffic, who explains his frustrations at the often-slow progress made on emissions and congestion, based on decades of experience in the industry.
Another packed edition, you can read all our content below.