The UK Petroleum Industry Association welcomes today’s proposed measures in the Clean Air Strategy and is glad to see acknowledgement of the large improvements already made by industry in reducing emissions. UKPIA believe the Strategy, as it develops, must be focussed particularly on areas of poor air quality, where exposure to air pollution causes either short- or long-term health impacts, and needs to be careful not to mandate expensive changes in areas that will not be of much benefit to society.
Stephen Marcos Jones, Director-General of UKPIA said: “This is a critical issue - poor air quality represents one of the greatest public health threats facing our generation. As DEFRA acknowledge, it is important to know where urban air quality issues arise and all industries will need to contribute to improvements.
The refining sector is already making significant progress and has invested in additional emissions abatement where there is evidence of potential health impacts from its emissions. We will continue to work closely with DEFRA and believe that the focus should remain on cost-effective abatement of the most significant sources of urban air pollution.”
ENDS
Enquiries to: UKPIA Press Office, Tel. 020 7269 7605
- UKPIA represents eight oil refining and marketing companies that operate the six major oil refineries in the UK and source over 85% of the transport fuels used. UKPIA members also own around 1,250 of the UK's 8,476 filling stations in the UK.
- UK Government’s Clean Air Strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-world-leading-plan-to-tackle-air-pollution