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The UK's CO2 Emissions Have Fallen 38% Since 1990, Faster Than Any Other Major Developed Country (carbonbrief.org)
The UK's CO2 emissions peaked in the year 1973 and have declined by around 38% since 1990, faster than any other major developed country. From a report: The most significant factors include a cleaner electricity mix based on gas and renewables instead of coal, as well as falling demand for energy across homes, businesses and industry. Declines in the UK's CO2 have persisted despite an economic recovery from the financial crisis a decade ago. Where earlier reductions were largely negated by rising imports, the past decade has seen genuine cuts in the amount of CO2 for which the UK is responsible. The factors driving emission reductions will likely continue into the future as the UK's remaining coal use is phased out by 2025.
Basically the energy usage has dropped for both manufacturing and commercial use and they switched to natural gas and added some wind power. Amazingly if you use less energy that emits CO2 you produce less CO2. Getting rid of your manufacturing and sending it overseas helps a lot. Essentially everyone needs to learn to code.
Locl pollution has to be solved locally. CO2 is a global, long-term problem.
In the EU the limits on local pollution are so low, it is completely harmless to healthy adults. The limits are set with elderly people, infants and asthmatics in mind. There is just some fight in Germany about that, because cars are banned from driving in some cities because of these limits.