Blueair joins UK’s first business coalition to clean up air pollution

Stockholm 15 October 2019: Blueair is a proud founding member of the UK’s first business coalition dedicated to tackling air pollution. Together with eight major businesses, including Philips and Uber, Swedish Blueair has teamed up with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and air pollution campaigners Global Action Plan, to create the Business Clean Air Taskforce (BCAT).

The BCAT’s mission is to tackle air pollution by speeding up the adoption of the many already existing solutions. One of BCAT’s first projects will call on employers to improve indoor air quality across the UK.

According to Opinium polling commissioned by Global Action Plan, 52% of people in the UK think action on air quality is now a major priority, leaping from just 33% six months previously. According to the polling, top actions that respondents thought businesses should focus on to improve air quality are:

• enabling employees to work from home (34%)
• improving the air quality in spaces they run, such as offices or shops (30%)
• supporting employees to use public transport more (29%).

Alexander Provins, Director of Europe, Blueair says:

“We are pleased to have agreed that one of the first BCAT projects will call on employers to improve indoor air quality across the UK. With indoor air being up to five times more polluted than outdoor air, and most people spending up to 90% of their times indoors, improving office, home and school air quality is an easy public health win”.

UK Environment Minister Rebecca Pow says:

“The Business Clean Air Taskforce sets an excellent example of businesses, campaigners, and government working collaboratively to deliver clean air for the future, and I hope that more like-minded businesses will be encouraged to sign up to do their bit to continue to improve air quality across the UK.”

Says Chris Large, Senior Partner at Global Action Plan:

“Businesses already provide many of the solutions to our air pollution problem. We just need to choose to use them. This taskforce will help more people to do the things that will cut air pollution: drive less, switch to electric vehicles and reduce activity that makes pollution inside our homes.”

"The public are increasingly concerned about air pollution, and the founder members of the BCAT are responding by saying, ‘We will help to make the air in your workplaces, homes and communities healthier to breathe.”

Professor Stephen Holgate, Medical Research Council Clinical Professor at the University of Southampton and the UK’s first Clean Air Champion, will advise on BCAT initiatives.

Professor Stephen Holgate says:

“To say we are in the middle of a major air pollution crisis is no exaggeration. Pollution is killing tens of thousands of people in the UK each year, it causes heart and lung diseases, and is linked to low birth weight and children’s lung development. 

“This coalition that combines the capabilities of business, government and the third sector is exciting and has great potential to make a real difference to the air we all breathe.”

The founding members of the Business Clean Air Taskforce are Blueair, Philips, Uber, Engie, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Ricardo, Canary Wharf Group and BP Chargemaster.

AirView by Blueair is an award-winning free online service where users in real-time can "see" what's in the air they breathe: www.airview.blueair.com