Revised PM2.5 targets in the EIP

1st December 2025

The government has finally published its revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). Within the plan is a commitment to an annual mean target for fine particle pollution (PM2.5) of 10 micrograms per cubic metre, to be achieved by December 2030. This is ten years earlier than was previously required, and something that we’ve been urging the government to commit to for years. This target aligns with the EU’s PM2.5 targets, which we have also been calling for, so we're pleased that the government appears to finally be listening and feel cautiously optimistic.

The devil is in the detail, though. Aligning with the EU on PM2.5 targets is good news, and will require more action in hotspots such as London. But as DEFRA's data shows, PM2.5 levels are largely already below 10 micrograms per cubic metre across the country. Yet hundreds of thousands of people are still getting sick - air pollution is causing asthma, wheezing, low birth weight, cancer and more across the country.

If the government is serious about protecting everyone’s health, we will also need a legal commitment to reducing nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Many areas have been in breach of NO2 legal limits for 15 years, and our UK legal limits are four times as high as current World Health Organization guidelines.

We welcome a consultation on new measures to cut emissions from domestic combustion. Action on wood burning is long overdue. We began campaigning on this in 2020, and since then, we’ve sent out 25,000+ flyers, hundreds of posters, repeatedly shone a light on the inadequate enforcement mechanism in Smoke Control Areas, and highlighted, as the government has not, the air pollution and health impact of burning.

People get in touch with us daily as their homes and lungs are filled with smoke from their neighbours’ burning. We need action to reduce unnecessary burning and, like the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, we urge the government to phase out wood burning and support a transition to cleaner heating.

No action can happen without adequate funding, though. Our recent research showed that in the first year of this Government, air pollution funding for local authorities dropped to £1.4m from a high of £225m!

These EIP commitments must be seen as a first step in the right direction.