In this episode, we talk about air pollution, the biggest environmental health risk in the European Union.
ADVERTISINGLevels of air pollutants in the European Union exceed the guidelines established by the World Health Organization in 2021. Some 300,000 European people die prematurely each year due to air pollution.
This problem is also one of the main causes of several diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, stroke and diabetes. Energy production, agriculture and industry are the activities that contribute the most to air pollution, although in urban areas traffic is an important source of pollution.
To improve the situation, the EU has reviewed its Directive on ambient air quality and has strengthened its limits, a reform that will come into force from 2030 and that the 27 Member States agreed this month.
For example, microscopic particles known as PM2.5 must be reduced from 25 to 10 µg/m3. Nitrogen dioxide must be reduced from 40 to 20 µg/m3.
The European Commission recognizes that air pollution affects vulnerable people the most, such as children, the elderly, the chronically ill and the less fortunate. Euronews heard the concerns of citizens of Athens (Greece) and Rome (Italy), two cities with serious air quality problems.
«I think the atmosphere in Athens is very bad because there are many cars. Many people avoid walking or using public transportation; “They prefer to go by car,” says a young Greek.
“We have to commit and raise awareness among all citizens with things like campaigns in the streets about what the current situation is really like and that, practically, it is a point of no return,” says a young Italian woman.
Complaints before the courts and financial support to governments
The good news for citizens is that the Directive strengthens their access to justice: “The Directive explicitly states that if someone’s health is harmed by pollution caused by the government or a company, they can apply for compensation.” economic,” explains Robert Hodgson, a Euronews journalist who covers this issue.
EU governments have been slow to enforce current regulations for years, and more than half of the 27 countries have already been sued for failing to comply with emissions standards.
In view of the new, stricter limits of the revised directive, governments have demanded a clause allowing them to request a ten-year deferral in its application, which must be well argued.
«This is going to be a process that the EU will have to accompany to support the authorities of the local and regional member states, of course. But honestly, pollution is a pandemic in slow motion,” says MEP Javier López (Spain, center-left), rapporteur for the review of this directive in the last legislature of the European Parliament.
López believes that protecting the environment and health is not incompatible with boosting the primary sector of the economy, as the European Green Deal promises, especially in the face of competition from other powers such as China and the United States.
But will governments and citizens agree with the pace and method used to achieve this?
Journalist: Isabel Marques da Silva
Production: Pilar Montero López
ADVERTISINGVideo production: Zacharia Vigneron
Editorial coordination: Ana Lázaro Bosch and Jeremy Fleming-Jones
