Not long ago, the melting of polar icecaps was seen as the kind of scary story only “nutty” scientists believed. With time, the situation has changed: ordinary people and politicians have started taking climate change far more seriously. This is an issue that goes far beyond the mere melting of ice, and one which affects everybody’s health and well-being – but particularly those most vulnerable, such as children and elderly.
According to a report by the London Councils: “In London alone, air pollution contributes to in excess of 9,400 premature deaths every year, and costs the health system between £1.4 and £3.7 billion per year, as well damaging buildings and biodiversity through the formation of pollutants into acid rain.” [Source here: https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/33224?utm_campaign=9163897_14%20Feb%202018%20Key%20Issues&utm_medium=email&utm_source=London%20Councils&dm_i=192K,5GEWP,7307YK,L4W8Z,1%5D
Friends of the Earth estimates that In the UK, there are 40,000 pollution-related deaths per annum. This is more than alcohol and obesity related deaths combined.
It was Margaret Thatcher who raised the issue of pollution at UN General Assembly back in 1989 [8 Nov 1989] urging “It is the prospect of irretrievable damage to the atmosphere, to the oceans, to earth itself”
https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107817
In the following years, Labour Governments and Labour-run councils have showed immensely little interest in this issue.
It is a common misconception that the sources of issues are large-scale manufactures. In recent years, the causes of pollution have been more accurately narrowed down to domestic consumption and traffic pollution.
These two areas are so broad, that I have written separate blogs on this topic.
Here we will focus on domestic causes of pollution and its effect on individuals. The Conservative party, in our manifesto, has set out plans to reduce the effects of air pollution on the lives and well-being of individuals. We propose to partly fund replacement of old inefficient boilers, which have been found to be harmful on many levels as well as contributing to fuel poverty and even death.
The Conservative party manifesto pledges,
page 7: “We will unlock additional external funding and sponsorship for a scheme to replace inefficient old domestic boilers that contribute disproportionately to air pollution. We will accelerate the review of heating systems in Council owned buildings owned.”:
Many people will argue that since their boiler is “working” there is no reason to change it. The fuel companies have not convinced households that there is money to be saved as well. After all, the saving of the environment, of cost to the public services and the individual’s health are not something that the fuel companies are known to campaign for. The reports are just circulated among environment-conscious politicians, charities like Friends of the Earth and National Energy Action [NEA] and occasionally individual campaigners.
When it comes to saving, a smart meter expert I recently spoke to could not believe how little I pay for my gas consumption per month – my new, efficient boiler actually makes the dwelling warm instead of just burning gas for no use and draining my bank account.
http://www.nea.org.uk/media/news/081117-01/:Charities are today warning that a loss of funding for repairs and replacements of gas heating appliances will badly damage thousands of people’s health, well-being and could even kill.
It appears that the most badly affected are residents of social housings as the Labour Council has not allocated funds for the boiler replacement.
According to the Hounslow report:
Hounslow has 12 of the most deprived areas in London most of which correspond with housing estates managed by Hounslow Homes. “We know that we need to improve the standards of repairs, improvement and major works contracts that are managed by Hounslow Homes and ensure these are effectively delivered and to a quality standard.”. They know but we have not seen any proposal to tackle this or indeed any boiler replacement scheme for social housing in place.
Peter Smith, Director of Policy and Research at National Energy Action (NEA) as per charity web site comments:
“Our latest research shows that Gas Safe engineers, local authorities, charities and other local agencies are coming into daily contact with households who have had older, inefficient unsafe gas appliance condemned but one in ten households can’t afford to fix or replace them. This leaves thousands of people with existing medical conditions facing a winter without any effective space heating or hot water. This is bound to have very negative consequences; causing needless deaths and acute suffering. There is now no Government support to repair or replace these heating appliances and current energy supplier-led schemes are not addressing these issues which have increased significantly in recent months. This situation is also scheduled to become more severe in the near future, as engineers visit millions of homes and will have to turn off any unsafe gas appliances as part of the GB-wide smart meter roll-out. Whilst it is welcome that qualified engineers condemn gas appliances that need to be repaired or replaced, one risk to health and safety can be replaced by another.”
New builds:
There is demand for more affordable homes and this is the policy Conservative party supports however Labour Council and indeed no London council has a policy of building the energy efficient low greenhouse emission dwelling.
The issue was outlined in the report Warmer & Greener published by Westminster Sustainable Business Forum
“Buildings accounted for 37 per cent of total UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2013
and 34 per cent in 2014.9 Around two-thirds of building emissions come from residential buildings and the UK’s housing stock is one of the least energy efficient in Europe.10 By 2050 the emissions footprint of all buildings in the UK will need to be almost zero.11 Improving the efficiency of domestic properties could provide some of the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.12 Energy efficiency improvements in domestic buildings are therefore an integral part of the climate change mitigation scenarios set out by the International Energy Agency, the Intergovernmental”
National Planning Policy Framework (2012) Paragraph 124 identifies that: “planning policies should sustain compliance with and contribute towards EU limit values or national objectives for pollutants,
Guidelines for affordable housing so it is environmentally friendly, minimises construction waste/ water consumption and promotes energy efficiency. (Require major publicly-financed construction projects to comply with standard)
Further there is a need to introduce a new decent homes standard with a greater focus on energy efficiency to drive consistent improvement across the social housing sector.”
Conservative manifest pledges introduction of standards for newly built homes with focus on energy efficient page 8 “Insist that new developments meet the highest environmental standards” to drive consistent improvement in social housing sector and prevent homes being constructed that will have to be retrofitted at a later date.
Schools:
Conservative party Fully support our schools and young people and believes that we need to make changes now for current generations and not just follow the phrase “for future generation”
However we leave it up to schools to lead the way, stating page 7 of the manifesto: “All but one of the Borough’s secondary schools are now to all intents and purposes independent of the Council’s education service e.g. academies. Labour has resisted these developments clinging on to dogma abandoned by most, even in their own Party, in the last century.”
It was heartening to see Oak Hill Academy investing into solar panels which no doubt reduces the energy cost. May we hope that other school will follow the example.
Fuel poverty:
“There are approximately 4.5 million fuel poor households in the UK.
Discussing environmental issues and energy efficiency we cannot ignore fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is closely linked to health issues, poor performance of children in schools costing NHS. This is what the experts stated:
“By increasing the warmth and comfort of homes, energy efficiency improvements can enhance the health and wellbeing of their occupants and thereby lower social care costs and lessen the burden on the NHS.26 Many health conditions are caused or exacerbated by cold homes and this can be a particularly acute problem for older and disabled people.27”
“Children and young people living in cold homes are more likely to suffer from respiratory and mental health problems. Cold homes also have an adverse effect on the educational attainment of young people and increase the risk of social isolation.28 Overall, cold housing costs the NHS in England an estimated £1.36 billion per annum and contributes to the ‘excess winter deaths’
which take place every year in the UK.29 It is estimated that 43,900 ‘excess winter deaths’ occurred in England and Wales in the 2014 to 2015 period.30”
Conclusion
We will end with the Forum’s conclusion:
““Increasing the energy efficiency of domestic buildings is absolutely essential for the UK to tackle fuel poverty and meet its commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, relative to 1990 levels.1 Achieving significant improvements in the energy efficiency of the UK’s housing stock has the potential to contribute substantially to the three challenges which make up the energy trilemma. This would not only help to decarbonise the energy system but also help to ensure security of energy supply and that energy is affordable.2 Making improvements in this area could dramatically enhance peoples’ health and wellbeing, prolonging lives and reducing the burden on the National Health Service (NHS). Additionally, achieving widespread improvements in the efficiency of domestic buildings promises to unlock substantial economic benefits including creating jobs, boosting economic growth and increasing the ability of individuals to contribute to society.”
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The Conservative Party is doing its bit. Vote Conservative for a #BetterHounslow.
Green Queen 