What is Ella’s Law, and Why Does it Matter for Communities Monitoring Air Pollution?
What is the Clean Air Human Rights Bill a.k.a Ella’s Law?
Many communities across London are already using lower-cost air pollution sensors to better understand the air they are breathing, helping reveal pollution hotspots that might otherwise go unnoticed.
This effort connects closely to the proposed Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, more widely known as Ella’s Law.
Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah was the first person in the UK to have air pollution officially recognised as a cause of death on her death certificate. She died when she was just nine years old. This set an important legal precedent because it recognised that air pollution is not just an environmental issue, but a serious public health issue with real human consequences.
The proposed law, named in Ella’s honour, would make clean air a human right and legally require the UK Government to work towards meeting World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines. The WHO guidelines reflect the most recent set of health evidence about how air pollution exposure is linked to illness and death. The UK’s current air quality requirements reflect outdated health evidence[i],[ii].
For communities already monitoring air pollution locally, Ella’s Law matters because local data helps show where pollution levels remain unsafe for health. Air pollution is often invisible, but sensor networks can help communities identify problems, raise awareness and support calls for action.
As Ella’s mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, recently highlighted, monitoring and public awareness were key recommendations from the coroner following Ella’s death. Sensor data can help start conversations in communities, schools and healthcare settings about the health impacts of air pollution and why cleaner air matters.
Local monitoring can also help communities hold decision-makers to account. By sharing evidence from sensor networks with councillors, MPs and healthcare professionals, communities can highlight where action is needed most, particularly around schools, busy roads and areas with vulnerable populations.
How the Breathe London Community Programme Supports the Aims of Ella’s Law
Many of the activities already taking place through the Breathe London Community Programme closely align with the aims of Ella’s Law and help support wider conversations around clean air, public health and accountability.
The programme supports communities to generate and understand local air quality data, helping make pollution more visible and easier to discuss. By combining community-led monitoring with lived experience and storytelling, groups are helping demonstrate how poor air quality affects people’s daily lives and health.
The programme also helps communities:
Better understand WHO air quality guidelines through local, place-based data.
Make air pollution information more accessible and meaningful.
Build confidence to speak with councillors, MPs, healthcare professionals and local decision-makers.
Support schools, families and vulnerable groups in understanding pollution exposure.
Create opportunities for residents to participate in conversations about local air quality and health.
Importantly, the Breathe London Community Programme reflects one of the core ideas behind Ella’s Law: that communities should have access to clear information about the air they breathe and a stronger voice in decisions that affect their health.
How Communities Can Support Ella’s Law
There are several ways communities can help build momentum behind Ella’s Law:
Share local air pollution data and lived experiences with MPs and local councillors.
Use community monitoring results to raise awareness about pollution and health impacts.
Encourage healthcare professionals to engage with local air quality data.
Start conversations in schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces about the importance of clean air.
Write to local MPs and government ministers to express support for Ella’s Law and stronger clean air protections.
Community monitoring is already helping make air pollution more visible across London, and Breathe London Community Programme groups are playing an important role in that work. Combined with public engagement and advocacy, local evidence can help push for cleaner air - and stronger legal protections - for everyone.
[i] Orellano, P., Reynoso, J., Quaranta, N., Bardach, A. and Ciapponi, A., 2020. Short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 142, p.105876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105876
[ii] Huangfu, P. and Atkinson, R., 2020. Long-term exposure to NO2 and O3 and all-cause and respiratory mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 144, p.105998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105998