The UK government has reached a settlement in a legal action against the family of a nine-year-old girl whose death was linked to air pollution. Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s daughter Ella suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013, with the Southwark Coroner’s Court finding in 2020 that air pollution had been a “material contribution” to her death. Ella lived just 25 meters from a heavily-polluted road in south-east London, with nitrogen dioxide levels exceeding WHO and EU guidelines. Her estate, which Adoo-Kissi-Debrah was the administrator for, sued three departments – the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport, and the Department for Health and Social Care – for compensation over Ella’s “illness and premature death”. The amount of the settlement has not been revealed.
After meeting with a minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), accompanied by Ella’s siblings, Adoo-Kissi-Debrah called for the introduction of “Ella’s Law”, which would include the right to breathe clean air as a basic human right. She has also said much more needs to be urgently done to improve air quality, which she described as a “public health crisis”.
The government said it was “truly sorry for [her] loss” and expressed “our thoughts and deepest condolences” to Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s siblings and everyone who knew her. It added that it was committed to delivering a comprehensive and ambitious Clean Air Strategy including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced, and to a review into how air quality information is communicated with members of the public.
Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said that nothing would ever make up for the loss of her beloved daughter and that the loss to their family was immeasurable. Her lawyer, Susie Labinjoh, called the settlement a measure of her sheer determination to get recognition for her daughter’s pain and suffering from those responsible for tackling air pollution. When the High Court action was first announced under a previous Conservative government in January, the departments said they would be disputing the claim
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
