Mom Sues Government Over Daughter’s Pollution-Linked Death

Rosamond Adoo-Kissi-Debrah claims that her daughter Ella wouldn’t have died if her government had done its job and protected its citizens from air pollution. She says it’s not about the money; Rosamond wants to ignite real change and save thousands of others from the same fate.

 In 2013, at only nine years old, Ella died from an asthma attack. Her mother, Rosamond, told the press, “It’s very sad how much she has genuinely missed out on, it was a life truly cut short. That will never go away.”

Rosamond filed a lawsuit against the UK government, arguing that air pollution directly led to her daughter’s death. This landmark case is the first of its kind. No plaintiff in history has used air pollution as a cause of death in a case against their government.

Instead, Ella’s mother has said that what she really wants is an admission of guilt from her government and cleaner air for future generations. Rosamond told the press she wants “an apology, first and foremost, for what Ella went through, and that this case is about the “legal right to clean air.”

Although her lawyers are adamant that the government admits its guilt and part in the death of young Ella, the government is arguing its actions do not “amount to a breach of human rights” and that its decisions were not “causative of Ella’s injuries or death.”

Now, ten years later, several reports state that London’s air is far cleaner now than it was then. However, as Rosamond and many others argue, the air is not nearly clean enough to ensure citizen safety.

For decades, they have chosen profits over people, allowing extensive fossil fuel use and dangerous manufacturing processes, both of which have led to extreme air and water pollution and directly caused climate change.

However, while Starmer and his party swore a clean air act would be included in the manifesto, no such act exists. As Rosamond said, his first month in office has already been quite the “disappointment” to many UK citizens.

But Rosamond argues that both 2040 and 2050 are too far away. She said, “A child born today would not get clean air until they are 16, which is a long way off.”

The World Health Organization reports that air pollution kills approximately seven million people annually.

As she explained, “It’s high time we had a public health campaign about the impact of air pollution on health.” Rosamond and many others believe that it’s time to stand up for the right to clean air; if they don’t, their children will suffer the consequences.

It would set a precedent that anyone else in the United Kingdom could sue the government for poor air quality, which could inundate the government with lawsuits but also ignite real and immediate change in policy.