Last Thursday, the council marked Clean Air Day 2021.

Led by the charity Global Action Plan, the purpose of Clean Air Day is to highlight air pollution, build awareness of how it affects our health, and explore some of the things we can do to tackle the problem.

Every year, air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK.  The World Health Organisation and the UK Government recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk we face today.

Poor air quality causes heart and lung diseases, is linked to low birth weight and children’s lung development and may even contribute to mental health issues.

To mark Clean Air Day, I was delighted to welcome Lee Waters MS, the new deputy minister for climate change, to an event at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome for Wales, where we showcased some of the work that both the council and our public sector partners have been doing to improve the air quality in the city.

This includes installing renewable energy generating solar panels on 27 of our buildings, including the largest rooftop installation in Wales at the Velodrome itself.

The showcase also featured a number of electric vehicles, which included our electric refuse collection vehicle, the first of its kind in Wales, one of Newport Transport’s electric buses, and an electric taxi.

Public sector organisations by their nature require large vehicle fleets to carry out much of our work. Moving towards fully electrifying our fleets is therefore an important step in tackling carbon emissions.

We also want to make it easier for residents to choose electric when buying a new car, which is why most council car parks now have fast or rapid charging points available for everyone to use.

We cannot do it alone though. We all have a part to play in reducing carbon emissions, which is why it was so heartening to see so many partner organisations join us in marking Clean Air Day.

We also had a chance to meet the members of St Julian’s School’s Eco Council. They clearly have a lot of passion for tackling climate change, and asked some good questions of myself and the deputy minister.

We still have a long way to go in making our air cleaner for future generations, but there is a lot of good work already throughout Newport, and the actions we are taking today will deliver a greener, healthier city for tomorrow.