Opinion | Canberra's wood heater phase out will give us cleaner air

Canberrans have the human right to clean air in their homes, workplaces, schools, playgrounds, and communities.

This statement may sound obvious, but it has been overshadowed by the current political debate on the phase out of wood heaters in the ACT.

But let's take a deep breath first! The air around us typically carries pollutants emitted from many natural and human sources, such as road vehicles, bushfires, cigarettes, and - importantly for Canberrans - wood heaters .

Domestic wood heaters are indeed the dominant source of air pollution in our city. Only a small proportion of ACT households (around 11 per cent) use wood heaters, predominantly larger households with higher incomes, as found in a nationwide survey. Despite this, they emit up to 25 per cent of air pollution (PM2.5) in