Clean air is a right. This is what needs to change

The Pretoria high court recently confirmed the constitutional right of the country’s citizens to an environment that isn’t harmful to their health. This includes the right to clean air, as air pollution affects human health, land and water systems, and decreases agricultural yields.

The case, referred to as the “Deadly Air” case, was brought against the government by environmental justice groups groundWork and the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights. The case concerned air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), which includes Ekurhuleni and a large portion of Mpumalanga.

Air pollution levels in the area are often above the legal thresholds specified in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These standards are set to protect health and exceeding the thresholds indicates a health risk. There have been small improvements in air quality in the area, but not enough to ensure it complies with established standards.

That these were exceeded was a key aspect of the case and the judgment, which declared that poor air quality in this area is in breach of residents’ constitutional rights to an environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing.

The case is important for a number of reasons. The first is that there was no penalty if air quality standards weren’t met. The judgment highlights how important compliance with standards is, as clean air is a constitutional right.

The second is that the court’s finding that air quality is a constitutional right underscores the urgency with which SA needs to act. The hope is that the ruling will help unlock many of the challenges that have hindered improving air quality in this region and across the country.

Air pollution sources and solutions

The sources of air pollution in SA are diverse and complex. Managing them therefore requires a multisectoral approach.

When it comes to pollution in the HPA, the focus is often on industrial emissions, especially from large emitters such as Eskom and chemical giant Sasol. But they aren’t the only sources of pollution there. In many instances the concentrations South Africans breathe at ground level are driven by other, closer sources, including vehicles, veld fires, mining and the burning of waste and fuels, such as wood or coal, for cooking or heating.

The pollution levels are often highest in low-income settlements, urban areas and regions close to large industries. Often, the highest levels of pollution are in vulnerable communities.

While it’s true there are different sources of pollution across SA, most of the emissions are from the burning of fossil fuels, which provide about86% of the country’s primary energy supply. In 2018 the total primary energy supply from renewables was 6%.

The contribution of fossil fuels to air pollution levels varies by place and time of year. But in many urban and industrialised areas, air pollution levels are dominated by emissions from fossil fuels.

The decarbonisation of SA’s energy system would therefore have large and rapid benefits.

A number of steps should be taken to get the process on the road.

What needs to be done

To improve air quality, the emissions of pollutants from a variety of sources must be decreased. This needs the involvement of different levels of government and coordination across numerous sectors and stakeholders.

Inadequate coordination among sectors has been a huge challenge in air quality management. This is due in part to the improvement of air quality falling within the mandate of national and local government environment departments. But the sources of pollution and where policies and action are needed to decrease emissions, such as industry, mining, transport and energy, fall under other departments.

To improve air quality, the active involvement of departments such as transport and mineral resources and energy are needed. In addition, local sources of pollution are often under the control of local government, while regional sources, such as large industries and pollution from highways, are under provincial and national government.

Issues with service delivery and waste management can lead to the burning of waste, which releases toxic pollutants at ground level. Thus effective air quality management stretches across sectors and levels of government.

This means the various state tiers need to work in a coordinated way, which isn’t happening.

Another important step is to ensure robust information on air pollution, especially the amount that is emitted, is available. This isn’t the case at the moment, which makes it difficult to track pollution trends.

For example, industrial emissions from regulated sources are collected by the department of forestry, fisheries and environment. But information on the amount emitted and the emission-reduction technologies that industries are using aren’t available. The importance of this data is highlighted in the court judgment and it could make communities aware of the levels of pollution being emitted near them.

In addition, scientists could use it to:

• Better simulate current air quality levels;

• Assess the impacts of policies and interventions on air pollution; and

• Interpret the long-term trends in the concentration of pollutants.

Experiences from other countries have shown that improving air quality takes dedication, resources and time, but has huge health, environment and economic benefits.

Hopefully the court’s ruling will help improve coordination and dedication across sectors in the development, implementation and enforcement of policies to improve air quality. This is urgently needed as SA tries to forge a path towards a just energy transition, which involves moving away from its heavy dependence on fossil fuels in a way that manages the negative effects on jobs and communities.

Rebecca Garland is an associate professor at the University of Pretoria.

This article was first published by The Conversation.