Britain apologizes for the death of a child that has made air pollution in low-income areas a national problem

LONDON– The British government has apologized for the death of a 9-year-old girl, believed to be the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed on her death certificate, after a decades-long battle that has highlighted the risks of vehicle emissions for children in low-income settings communities.

The apology was part of a settlement announced Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who developed severe asthma shortly before her 7th birthday and suffered severe seizures before she died on Feb. 15, 2013. The government also reached an undisclosed financial agreement.

“Although this does not bring Ella back, we finally accept that this is an acknowledgment of what happened to her and to put the problem of air pollution firmly on the map, that it is a public health crisis… and that “Something needs to be done about it,” said Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s mother, after a meeting with government officials. “Today it is finally over, but I will continue and the government has assured me that they will continue to work with me to clean the air.”

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah fought to reopen the coroner's inquest into Ella's death after the so-called Dieselgate scandal revealed how Volkswagen had concealed the true emissions levels of its diesel-powered vehicles. Research from the Royal College of Physicians later showed that around 40,000 deaths in the UK each year are attributed to outdoor air pollution, with the burden falling heaviest on low-income communities near busy roads and other major sources of emissions.

Ella grew up just 25 meters (yards) from South Circular Road, a major artery on the southern edge of central London.

The UK Supreme Court in May 2019 overturned the original inquest's findings, which attributed Ella's death to asthma.

In December 2020, a second investigation found that air pollution was one of the causes of Ella's death, along with acute respiratory failure and severe asthma.

During her illness, Ella was exposed to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter above World Health Organization guidelines, deputy coroner Philip Barlow ruled. There is also a “perceived failure” to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels to the limits set by the European Union and domestic law.

“Ella’s mother was not educated by health professionals about the health risks of air pollution and its potential to worsen asthma,” Barlow said. “If she had been given this information, she would have taken action that could have prevented Ella’s death.”

The child's estate, which is managed by her mother, sued the Department of the Environment, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health and Human Services for compensation for Ella's illness and untimely death.

The government called Ella's death a “tragedy” on Thursday and said her mother's public campaign for better air quality had “had a significant impact.”

According to a statement released by her law firm Hodge Jones, Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said Environment Minister Emma Hardy had reiterated her commitment to passing legislation that would bring the UK in line with WHO standards & Allen.

“On behalf of the government agencies involved in the lawsuit, we take this opportunity once again to express our deep sympathy for your loss and to offer our sincere condolences to you as Ella's mother, her siblings and everyone who knew her ” the government said in the statement. “Losing a loved one at such a young age is an immeasurable loss.”