Our message for the Conservatives at their party conference

This article was originally published by Conservative Home as part of their special edition for the 2024 Conservative Party Conference. 

As you’re reading this sentence, it’s likely you’re breathing polluted air.

That’s because in 40 cities across the UK, people are inhaling levels of air pollution which are equal to –  and often surpass – the World Health Organization’s limits.

In opposition, the Conservatives have an important role to play in holding the new Government to account on its environmental commitments. Championing policies that support businesses to reduce their polluting emissions is one way the opposition can use its influence to hold the Government to account and improve people’s health.

How air pollution devastates health and damages the economy

Prolonged exposure to air pollution increases a person’s chances of dying from cancer by over 20%. It also causes heart attacks, strokes, asthma, and dementia. For all these reasons, air pollution contributes to up to 43,000 deaths every year in the UK.

While we’re all affected, air pollution disproportionately harms certain groups of people. People in urban areas are most exposed to air pollution and, in those areas, it’s people from minoritised communities, people in lower income areas, and children who are among the most affected by it.

Damage to the economy

Air pollution doesn’t just devastate people’s lives. It also has significant economic costs. That includes direct costs to the NHS and indirect costs relating to economic inactivity. Every year, 3.9 million working days are lost to sickness caused by air pollution.

A vicious cycle

Businesses are major polluters. Construction sites contribute to approximately 30% of large particulate pollution (PM10) in cities like London. While freight – the transportation of goods and services – contributes to over a quarter of all transport-related fine particulate pollution in London.

In total, approximately one third of polluting emissions come from industrial and commercial sources in urban areas.

The country is caught in a vicious cycle: businesses are polluting the air which harms people’s health. That contributes to an increasingly sick workforce, which harms businesses. And so on.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Industry’s potential to improve health and their bottom line

The role businesses have when it comes to improving people’s health is often overlooked.

Businesses have the potential to improve health in three ways: By improving the goods and services they provide, protecting the health of their workforces, and by reducing externalities across their value chains.

Reducing emissions from industrial and commercial sources will not only improve the health of people living in towns and cities, but it will be good for businesses. Typically, companies that measure and mitigate the effect they have on the environment benefit from lower energy and resource costs.

Incentivise businesses to improve air quality

While businesses can take limited steps to reduce their polluting emissions, they need support and incentives from the Government to meaningfully improve air quality. There are lots of ways the Conservatives can encourage the new Government to provide that support.

Our work with the construction sector found that many people working in the industry are very concerned about air pollution and would welcome regulation from the Government to provide clarity and a level playing field. For example, the Government could provide clear guidance on how air pollution emissions can be calculated, allowing businesses to comply with existing corporate disclosure regulations more easily and to benchmark their performance against their peers.

To incentivise emission reductions, we would like to see the new Government introduce a tiered business rates relief that incentivises businesses the more they track and reduce polluting emissions that are harmful to health. This could be modelled on the targeted business rates relief for low-carbon heat networks introduced previously by the Conservative Government.

Better health means a stronger economy

Good health is essential for a strong economy.

The Conservatives can show leadership by encouraging the Government and businesses toward a health-led economy. As the shadow Government, the Conservatives must use their influence and champion policies that support business to reduce their polluting emissions.

If successful, it would have numerous benefits: a country where we don’t have to worry about the air we breathe, a stronger workforce, and improvements to businesses’ bottom line.