Background

Air pollution affects all of us. It is the largest environmental risk for health in the United Kingdom and worldwide, and it causes many people to become seriously ill.

Air pollution mainly refers to gases and particles in the air that can directly damage our bodies. It can be found outdoors and indoors, and it can be dangerous wherever we are exposed to it. It is produced when we burn fuels in engines, in heating systems, and from cooking, from bonfires and outdoor burning, from chemical products and materials, and from demolition and construction activity.

Air quality (the measure of how much pollution is in the air) has improved greatly in London, but there are still some environments where people are living with levels of air pollution that present a risk to health.

One of the environments that still poses a health risk is London’s canals and inland waterways. This is because there has been a lack of attention on the need to support London’s boating communities with viable alternatives to diesel engines and wood- and coal-fired heating.

The Healthy Waterways London project

Healthy Waterways London is a partnership of London boroughs, the Port of London Authority and the Canal and River Trust. The project seems to establish a strong and positive relationship with boating communities and to design a Healthy Waterways Strategy to set out a future vision and opportunities for cleaner air, for the benefit of everyone who lives, works, learns and travels on and alongside London’s canals and inland waterways.