Extinction Rebellion Holds Putney High Street Protest

'Green Man Swarm' highlights the issue of poor air quality

Local air quality campaigners in Putney this weekend. Picture: XR Wandsworth

February 15, 2024

Extinction Rebellion Wandsworth members came to Putney town centre this weekend to hold a “Green Man Swarm”.

A 11am on Saturday (10 February) they assembled at the junction of Putney High Street and Upper Richmond Road with banners saying “Air Pollution Kills” and “End Fossil Fuels Now”.

A “Green Man Swarm” doesn’t stop any traffic rather protesters move into the road with banners when the “green man” pedestrian light stops the traffic and then move back on to the pavement when the green man goes off.

It is not the first time that such a protest has been held in the centre of Putney, but this one saw the participation of the youngest ever ‘swarmer’, 10-year-old Mathilda while her 8-year-old sister handed out leaflets to passersby.

The campaigners say feedback received was mostly positive with many being aware of the longstanding issue with air quality in the area.

The A219, which passes along Putney High Street, is the world’s most congested road, according to a report by transport research company INRIX. Nitrogen oxide (NO2) pollution, a substantial proportion of which comes from road traffic, is therefore a particular cause for concern.

Local resident and climate activist Diana McCann says that despite NO2 data for Putney High Street being missing for 2022, the latest year the council have published an Air Quality Action report, it can be assumed that the reading for the area would probably be in the range of 55-60 ugm3 which would be up to six times the WHO recommended safe level of 10 ugm3 and still above the UK government’s safe level of 40 ugm3.

“It’s important to note that annual mean levels are exactly that – an average,” says McCann. “At the busier traffic times, eg during rush hours, the levels will obviously be higher. And these are the times when most people are around either in cars or as pedestrians and cyclists and breathing air that’s way, way over the mean annual level, which is already well over the WHO guidance levels.”

Young Extinction Rebellion volunteers handed out leaflets. Picture: XR Wandsworth

The other air pollutant measured by Wandsworth Council is particulate matter. Here the Council’s report shows that for PM10 the Putney High Street street-level monitor records a mean of 20 ugm3 for 2022. The WHO safe level is 15. The government and council still use the old WHO level of 40 ugm3, which enables them to claim levels are comfortably achieved.

In 2019, research suggested that air pollution was the fourth biggest risk factor for early death in the world and by some estimates it is responsible for around 36,000 premature deaths annually in the UK, and 4,000 in London.

The protesters only blocked the roads when traffic was held at a red light. Picture: XR Wandsworth

A new study in Oxford has found that emergency hospital admissions for asthma dropped by 41% in 2020 as air pollution from traffic fell due to Covid restrictions. Polluted air has also been linked to increases in heart disease, dementia, depression, anxiety, suicide and premature births.

The campaigners want people to sign the Putney Pollution Busters’ petition to Wandsworth Council and Sadiq Khan demanding they address Putney’s air pollution. At the time of writing just under 200 people had signed the petition. Putney Pollution Busters was set up in February 2021 by a group of local people after the publication of figures showing Putney as having two of London’s ten pollution blackspots. Although pollution has decreased since then, they believe levels are still dangerously high.