A blog post by CAG partner Lucy Harbor
Today is National Clean Air Day 2026, and I thought I’d use this opportunity to celebrate the huge progress that the UK has made in improving air quality over the last few decades, whilst acknowledging there is still more to do.
Since I started working on air quality projects over 10 years ago, pollution levels have decreased by around 30-35% on average. That’s a huge achievement – and one that will be helping people to breathe cleaner air, and be healthier as a result.
Much of this is a result of effective transport policies being introduced, but we should also acknowledge the role that some clean air campaigners have played. Rosamund Kissi Debrah has in particular been hugely influential.
We’ve noticed the improvement in air quality in our work at CAG. Where we used to go out with school children and monitor pollution on roads near schools, and would consistently record high levels of pollution, we now often have to wait a while for electric vehicles and more modern petrol cars to pass by before a polluting vehicle drives past making the monitor hit the ‘very high’ readings. Great news for air quality, but not so good for children who desperately want to see that monitor hit those high numbers.
While this is undoubtedly a good news story, there are no safe levels for pollution. So while we’re moving in the right direction, pollution remains a health risk especially for people who are most vulnerable to its impacts, such as the elderly, young people and those with cardiorespiratory problems. And also those from more deprived or vulnerable backgrounds, who research has shown are disproportionately affected by pollution.
Now it wouldn’t be clean air day without some tips for what you can do to take action.
So with many of us now working much of the week from home, here are some steps that you can take to improve the air quality at home.
- Open windows regularly to prevent air pollutants building up.
- Stick to fragrance free or milder cleaning products
- When cooking, cleaning or decorating, use an extractor fan or open windows
Did you know that research has shown that productivity can improve by as much as 60% when air quality is improved?
To celebrate Clean Air Day, at CAG we will be delivering air quality and idling training to fleet drivers in London (council drivers, ambulance drivers, couriers), as part of the Idling Action project.