Overview
- Labour has opened a consultation under its revised Environmental Improvement Plan that confirms a 30% cut in PM2.5 by 2030 versus 2018 and an annual mean target of 10 µg/m3 to be reached by December 2030.
- Proposals include banning the sale of older wood-burner models that do not meet new standards, tightening Smoke Control Areas that limit what fuels can be burnt, and consulting on restrictions to open burning.
- Ministers say existing stoves would not be retrospectively outlawed and the consultation aims to limit disruption to people who rely on burning and to respect cultural events.
- Official figures cited in the plan attribute about one-fifth of the UK’s PM2.5 emissions in 2023 to domestic solid-fuel combustion and note links between PM2.5 exposure and asthma, heart disease, and premature death.
- The solid-fuel industry group HETAS says many stoves already meet Cleaner Choice standards and urges practical, enforceable rules to support owners while campaigners call the step progress toward legally binding clean-air goals such as Ella’s Law.