Air quality and climate change

Many sources of air pollution are also sources of high CO2 emissions, such as fossil fuels used in vehicles or power generation. Most of our actions to improve air quality will also help to mitigate climate change through reducing carbon emissions, and vice versa.

The effects of climate change on air quality are complex. However, we can expect hotter, drier weather to lead to an increase in high pollution episodes, in particular higher levels of particulate matter and ozone.

To find out more about our climate action see Greener Hackney.

Green spaces

Hackney is one of the greenest boroughs in London with 58 parks and green spaces totalling 282 hectares.

Green spaces help tackle climate change by absorbing harmful CO₂ emissions. While local air pollutants such as NO₂ and particulate matter don’t get absorbed by vegetation in the same way, vegetation can block or trap harmful pollutants.

We have committed to improving green spaces throughout the borough and are rolling out our tree planting programme where 30,000 trees are being planted across the borough.

5,000 of these trees will be street trees, planted in urban areas where air pollution is highest. Planting trees and improving green spaces can provide a more attractive environment for walking and cycling so can indirectly reduce emissions from transport.

Find out more about our parks and green spaces initiatives.

Green screens

Green screens act as a natural barrier between people and pollution sources such as roads. They’re made of plants that can absorb harmful chemicals from the air.

The GLA has recommended the use of green screens outside schools to help reduce exposure to air pollution.

For more information, view the effective use of green infrastructure to protect people from air pollution on the GLA’s website.

Installing green screens in schools

We’ve installed green screens at 19 schools: 

• Grasmere Primary School
• Haggerston School
• Jubilee Primary School 
• Lubavitch Boys’ Junior School
• Mossbourne Parkside Academy
• New City College – BSix Campus
• Oldhill Community Primary School
• Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School
• Princess May Primary School
• Queensbridge Primary School
• Rushmore Primary School
• Sebright Children’s Centre
• Simon Marks Jewish Primary School
• St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School (school closed July 2025)
• St Mary’s Church of England Primary (school closed July 2025)
• St Monica’s Catholic Primary School
• St Scholastica Roman Catholic School
• Talmud Torah Yetev Lev
• William Patten Primary School

We’re creating green screens in schools across Hackney as part of our plan to introduce new green spaces and improve air quality on school grounds. We’ve also introduced School Streets and low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).

For more information, see our air quality action plan (PDF 5.3mb).