Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, has called on the First Minister to host a multi-agency summit to tackle Wales’ air pollution crisis.
He made the calls during First Minister’s Questions today.
Public Health Wales (PHW) has said that air pollution is second only to smoking as a public health crisis.
They have published figures which show that air pollution causes approximately 2,000 deaths a year (6% of Wales’ total) – 5 deaths a day.
Mr Davies is calling on the First Minister to host a multi-agency summit to assess the issue, and to bring forward agreed targets for improvements to air quality in the worst affected areas by 2021.
He said:
“This is a serious public health crisis and it will require leadership and urgency from the First Minister to drive through much-needed improvements.
“We cannot afford to wait to tackle air pollution.
“It’s killing around 2,000 people a year in Wales and I was extremely disappointed that the First Minister would not commit to hosting a multi-agency summit to tackle the issue.
“Taking a constructive, co-ordinated approach to tackling air pollution would enable the agreement of a robust action plan and ambitious targets for pollution reduction.
“The Welsh Government will need to have made demonstrable progress by the end of the Assembly term, both in terms of improving air quality and reducing congestion on our roads.”
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