A new cruise ship terminal is planned for Greenwich. Enderby Wharf will bring holiday makers right into the heart of the UK’s capital city pretty much as we have here in Liverpool.

Like Liverpool, Greenwich is an existing pollution hotspot, air quality limits are frequently breached. Bringing a cruise ship into the area will further exacerbate the problem, increasing traffic bringing goods and services to the terminal.

Residents of Greenwich have raised concerns that visiting ships would burn 700 litres of diesel an hour whilst in dock. That’s the equivalent of over 650 HGV lorries idling in an already polluted part of their city. At least 9000 Londoners already die prematurely each year as a result of breathing dirty air. Liverpool suffered 239 deaths last year in the same way.

Why has no-one raised this concern here in Liverpool? What do we know about the air pollution caused by the arrival of cruise ships?

We urge you to listen now to BBC Radio 4 – Costing the Earth, Cruising: A Dirty Secret