As the ‘Dieselgate’ trial begins in London today, health experts and campaigners have condemned the government and car manufacturers for years of inaction.
The trial, hailed as the UK’s biggest-ever group legal action, is taking place at the High Court and is due to test whether five leading carmakers used defeat devices to cheat emissions tests. The hearing is expected to last around three months and a verdict is due to be delivered by summer 2026.
Over 1.8 million drivers have joined the claim against Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan. Indeed, the latest figures from a YouGov poll show 63% of British adults don’t trust car manufacturers to tell the truth about the health and environmental impacts of their cars.
The survey also found that 69% of adults believe it’s unacceptable that some cars could be fitted with emissions defeat technology in the UK and pressure is growing on the government to force car manufacturers to withdraw such vehicles from the market.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the biggest voice within the air quality sphere, said: ‘Car manufacturers have a moral and legal duty to put this scandal right. The government needs to step up and phase out diesel vehicles that are still on our streets by 2030. It is morally unacceptable that toxic air is still being pumped out by these vehicles without us knowing.’
Rosamund’s call for action comes as new figures from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air show, illegal diesel emissions in the UK are linked to 16,000 premature deaths and 30,000 new cases of childhood trauma.
In similar vein, the research revealed across Europe and the UK, the economic cost of lost workdays and healthcare impacts could exceed £1 trillion.
To mark the beginning of today’s trial, campaigners from Mums for Lungs, ClientEarth and Asthma + Lung UK staged a demonstration. Jemima Hartshorn, of Mums for Lungs, said: ‘It is shocking that a decade after Dieselgate first broke, families are still breathing dirty air from cars that were clearly exceeding legal emission levels. The court case is a critical moment for justice and accountability.’
In a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, the campaign groups are calling for an investigation and recall of affected vehicles, with emphasis that all manufacturers should bare the costs rather than drivers. However, despite a 2023 legal complaint from ClientEarth, the government is yet to act.
‘Since the Dieselgate scandal first broke a decade ago, auto manufacturers have faced no real accountability. The British public wants polluters to pay, and finds it unacceptable that there could still be cars on our roads with emissions-cheating devices,’ Emily Kearsey, lawyer at ClinetEarth, said. ‘Beyond this trial, the government has a key role to play. Where illegal activity is shown, the government needs to enforce recalls – paid for by manufacturers. Otherwise public health will continue paying the price.’
Photo by Matt Boitor via UnSplash
In related news:
Purifiers alone not enough to cut viral exposure in classrooms
Leave a Reply