Diolch, Chair. Air pollution is the most serious environmental health risk we face today. Welsh Government is reducing the exposure of people and the natural environment to harmful air pollution through delivering new infrastructure, strengthening regulation and undertaking robust monitoring and evidence gathering. 

Clean air is central to our well-being, and our approach to tackling air pollution is guided by the ways of working identified by the well-being of future generations Act. The level of nitrogen dioxide pollution is one of the national indicators created by the Act, which we use to measure progress towards our well-being goals. Due to the continued impact of air quality issues on people and the environment, Welsh Government has committed to bring forward a new clean air Act. We are committed to taking all practical measures to improve air quality, not just in the most polluted hotspots, but across all of Wales.

Air pollution has the greatest impact on the most vulnerable people in our society: children, older people, those with chronic health conditions, and people living in deprived areas. Air pollution is also affecting the condition of our natural environment, threatening our most rare and endangered plant species, and causing widespread damage to crops and forests. In Wales, the single most problematic source of air pollution is road traffic, although pollution from industry, agriculture and domestic burning also require our urgent attention.

Action by Government and industry over the last three decades has led to a dramatic decline in some air pollutants, whilst others have changed little and some have even shown small increases in recent years. The levels of pollution to which our citizens and our natural environment are exposed are still too high, and further action is required.