The Environment Agency’s ‘The State of the Environment: health, people and the environment’ shows the green inequality in society.
The report – which brings together a wide range of evidence – finds that people living in deprived areas are not only more likely to have poorer health outcomes, they also have poorer quality environments and access to less green space. One study found that city communities with 40% or more black, Asian or ethnic minority residents have access to 11 times fewer green spaces locally than those comprising mainly white residents.
The Environment Agency’s latest ‘State of the Environment’ report highlights that while significant improvements have been made in the quality of England’s air, land and water there is still a long way to go, with:
- Air pollution still being the single biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, shortening tens of thousands of lives each year.
- Antimicrobial resistant microbes becoming more common in the environment due to contamination, meaning infectious illnesses may become harder to treat.
- Mental health conditions increasing – and can be caused or affected by pollution, flooding and climate change.
- Substantial and growing evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in the natural environment, but that children are engaging less with nature.
The report also highlights the benefits to health of nature based-solutions to climate change, such as the Environment Agency’s new Warrington flood defence scheme which protects over 2,000 homes and businesses and will create reed bed habitats, plant trees, open up riverside paths, and improve the views across the river and town. The benefits from the air quality improvement, recreation and physical activity add up to over £70 million over the lifetime of the scheme.
Read James Bevan’s speech here.