1 April 2021

After five years in the making, the NSW government has released a draft Clean Air Strategy that fails to do anything to reduce pollution.

Instead of providing a strategy with firm commitments and measurable deadlines to protect the community from toxic air pollution, the draft Clean Air Strategy merely summarises what the government already does (which we know isn’t enough).

Where the government has failed, the people have stepped in and come up with our own plan – The People’s Clean Air Action Plan. In collaboration with community, health and environment groups, and international pollution experts, we’ve developed a list of actions for the NSW government to reduce toxic air pollution and protect public health.

The government’s draft strategy is hugely disappointing for communities suffering the health impacts of exposure to toxic air pollution. But given this is a draft strategy, the NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean has an opportunity to make this strategy count by adopting the recommendations in The People’s Clean Air Action Plan.

The People’s Clean Air Action Plan for NSW calls for the state government to reduce the biggest sources of air pollution by:

• Increasing air quality monitoring and access to information about air pollution
• Reducing coal-fired power station pollution with best practice control standards
• Reducing vehicle pollution, with a focus on vehicle pollution hotspots
• Phasing out wood-burning heaters
• Legislating health-based ambient air quality standards.

If we can get enough people from the NSW community to voice their support for The People’s Clean Air Action Plan, the NSW government won’t be able to ignore our calls to implement its recommendations. Write to NSW Enviro Minister Matt Kean.