Deliver Change, a non-profit organisation focused on sustainable technology projects, launched the campaign in central London yesterday (29 June) at an event hosted by the Wellcome Trust.

The ‘Let’s make air pollution visible’ initiative aims to bring together businesses and policy makers to tackle poor air quality in the UK.

Deliver Change chief executive Jonathan Steel said: “Air pollution remains the greatest invisible threat to our health today, as well as to the economic performance of our cities. People are waking up to the problem, but we need to be able to see the ‘unseeable’.”

Deliver Change is also piloting its air quality monitoring network, AirSensa, which uses thousands of air pollution monitors to collect data on air pollution in UK cities. The data collected will help inform solutions for solving air quality problems.

Steel added: “We’re building partnerships with organisations that can take action based on that data, which is what the ‘Visible’ initiative is all about.”

Visible data

Businesses are already backing the new Deliver Change initiative. Patrick Gallagher, chief executive of courier company CitySprint, said: “Most businesses are already taking some steps to tackle climate change and promote sustainability. But we recognise that our business, like almost any, has an impact on the environment. We have a responsibility to find more ways to mitigate the impact of this.

“To date, there has not been enough reliable air monitoring information to help drive change, so we are proud to support the Visible initiative.”

Air pollution is thought to contribute to more than 29,000 premature deaths each year in the UK.  In April the UK Government was ordered by the Supreme Court to improve air quality standards and reduce the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere. The World Health Organisation estimates the problem costs the economy £53bn each year.

Matt Field

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