The Air Quality Management Area that we declared in 2004 is no longer needed and will be revoked.

We have a duty to monitor local levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulates (PM₁₀) and compare them against a national target.

If levels of either of the pollutants rise above the target, we must:

• declare an Air Quality Management Area
• publish an Air Quality Action Plan outlining how we will reduce the pollutants

The management area must remain in place until levels remain below the target for five years.

Air Quality Management Area declaration

We declared an Air Quality Management Area in the city centre in 2004. The level of NO₂ was above the target, an annual average of 40µg/m³. This was primarily attributed to vehicle emissions.

• Air Quality Management Area order (scanned document) [PDF, 11MB]
• Air Quality Management Area map [PDF, 3.5MB]
• Air Quality Action Plan

Since the area’s declaration, we and our partners have worked to improve air quality in the city. At the same time, vehicle emissions have reduced as older cars are replaced with newer ones, including low-emission and electric vehicles.

Air Quality Management Area revocation

We have not recorded levels above the target level at any of our monitoring locations since 2018.

The government has approved our 2022 and 2023 annual reports. The 2020 and 2021 datasets have been deemed compliant despite reduced NO₂ levels during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Defra have told us to revoke of the Air Quality Management Area, as we no longer need it.

• Air Quality Annual Status Report 2024 [PDF, 2MB]
• Draft Air Quality Management Area revocation order (scanned document) [PDF, 16MB]

Air-quality monitoring results

Our air pollution measurements show a significant reduction in NO₂ levels. The graph in Figure 1 shows the annual average levels we measured from 2014 to 2023.

Each location shows a downward trend, although some levels are higher than the previous year. The graph also shows the national annual average target of 40µg/m³.

Next steps

The historical focus on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) traffic emissions is shifting to other important pollutants, most notably PM_2.5.

We will continue to monitor NO₂ and particulate pollution across the city to ensure air quality continues to improve.

The Greater Cambridge Air Quality Strategy [PDF, 0.7MB] will continue to deliver air-quality improvements. It commits to work towards the WHO's air-quality guidelines, which are lower than national targets. The guidelines are based on evidence linking the concentration of pollutants in the air with adverse effects on health.