The Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, popularly known as Ella’s Law, is to be reintroduced the Parliament on 1st July.
The bill was originally introduced by the Green Party peer Baroness Jenny Jones, being read for the first time in the House of Lords on 5th June 2018.
Sian and Rosamund on the boundary of the South Circular Road in London
After clearing the House of Lords with strong cross-party support, the bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party) before the dissolution of Parliament in May 2024 ensured the bill would make no further progress.
Famously named after nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death after suffering a fatal asthma attack, the bill will be reintroduced by the Green MP Siân Berry, with support from Labour, Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru and Conservative MPs.
Ella’s mother, Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah CBE said: ‘I am delighted Siân and the cross-section of MPs are taking forward Ella’s Law in parliament. Tackling air pollution should not be a partisan issue, it affects us all, in every constituency in the country. I believe that everyone has a right to breathe clean air, no matter where they live, the colour of their skin or their socio-economic background.
‘We know that air pollution affects most people in this country, but the harshest effects are felt by poorer and marginalised communities. I hope this Labour Government will therefore take forward this Bill to protect all children and adults from the devastating effects of breathing toxic air. There is no more time to waste. We all have a human right to health and saving lives must always be the Government’s top priority.’
Under a Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, the right to breathe clean air would be enshrined in UK law and would obligate the Government to meet WHO air pollution guidelines by 1st January 2030.
The bill will be introduced as a ‘Ten Minute Rule Bill’, which allows a Member of Parliament to make a speech of up to ten minutes long, outlining the case for a new law or a change to an existing one.
Siân Berry said: ‘Clean air is a human right, and it is time the law recognised this. Deaths like Ella’s, and the millions of lives blighted by preventable diseases caused by air pollution, can be a thing of the past if Governments start taking the right action now.
‘Rosamund’s campaign is gaining momentum and communities across the country are raising air pollution as a key problem in their local area, so it is great to have representatives from all parties joining together to press for a legal right to breathe clean air.
‘Finally passing Ella’s Law will save lives, as it will make sure we get new targets, and the funding for local areas to achieve them by cutting down on the many causes of toxic pollution, from road traffic to wood burning.
‘I look forward to presenting the Bill in Parliament and I hope to work with more and more MPs joining together to pass Ella’s Law and protect generations to come.’
Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive at Asthma + Lung UK, said: ‘The proposed Clean Air Bill is an important step towards making everyone’s right to breathe clean air a reality. Air pollution causes tens of thousands of preventable deaths every year. These early deaths represent a failure of government to act as current policies and targets do not do enough to protect public health.
‘Toxic air has a detrimental impact on the millions of people living with a lung condition in the UK – with four out of five telling us that it makes their breathing difficulties worse.
‘We need action now to protect the public’s lungs. Asthma + Lung UK backs Ella’s Law and Rosamund’s campaign to enshrine the right to clean air in law. We hope MPs from across the House will back the Bill and prevent more people from losing their lives by simply breathing in the air around them.’
MPs from across the political spectrum that are supporting the bill include: Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Stella Creasy, Wera Hobhouse, Shockat Adam, Ellie Chowns, Seamus Logan, Afzal Khan and Ruth Jones.
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