Students’ views on Nitrogen Pollution Included in Lords Report

Students from schools and colleges in England and Wales have had their views on the impact of nitrogen pollution published as part of a House of Lords report, out today.

The cross-party Environment and Climate Change Committee’s wide-ranging report, ‘Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse’ warns that successive Governments have failed to tackle the dangerous health, environmental and economic impacts of nitrogen pollution in England caused mainly by agriculture, sewage, transport and industry.

During the inquiry, the Committee sought the views of students selected to take part in the Committee’s Youth Engagement Programme from:

• Ellesmere College, Leicester;
• Mary Immaculate High School, Cardiff;
• Shipley College, Bradford;
• Skinners Academy, Hackney;
• The Holt School, Berkshire;
• Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester.

The students raised particular concerns about the impacts of air pollution caused by road transport on young people’s health as well as nitrogen pollution to water from agriculture. They suggested several solutions to change how nitrogen is used, including raising public awareness on nitrogen pollution, having more sustainable farming methods and reducing emissions from road transport.

As a result of the views of the students and evidence from a range of witnesses, the Committee is calling on the Government to produce a holistic nitrogen strategy within the next two years having found that a piecemeal approach to nitrogen management and regulation has led to an ineffective regulatory framework, with poor enforcement.

The report also includes a number of other recommendations to tackle the impacts of nitrogen pollution caused by agriculture, transport and industry and clean up pollution in rivers.

Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:

“Nitrogen is an essential chemical element for all living things. It constitutes 80 percent of the air we breathe.

“However, when nitrogen combines with other elements it can form dangerous and deadly pollutants that affect air quality, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths per year and damages and kills aquatic life, precious habitats, plants and wildlife. The associated economic, social and environmental costs are immense.

“As young people are impacted by nitrogen pollution and will be the future leaders to tackle the effects of climate change, it was vital that their voice was heard in our report.”