1. Introduction:
air pollution – a silent, invisible killer
1. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), air pollution is a major threat to global public
health and a major cause of premature deaths. Of the 56 million
deaths that occur annually, WHO estimates that 6 million are linked
to smoking and 7 million to air pollution.
The latter are attributed to both
outdoor and indoor air pollution; all in all, nine out of ten persons
in the world breathe toxic air that exceeds WHO guideline limits. Indoor
air pollution
is a major problem in developing
countries, where homes and cooking devices are often unventilated.
Outdoor air pollution – causing 4.2 million deaths out of the above-mentioned
7 million – occurs in developing and developed countries, particularly
in industrial and urban areas. It is largely the result of fossil fuel
combustion, such as in power stations (for energy production), industry
and transport, or waste burning; domestic forms of heating (such
as wood burners and coal fires) also contribute to outdoor air pollution
levels. In Europe, traffic is the predominant source of outdoor
air pollution in urban areas, whilst agricultural emissions are
highly problematic in rural areas. There is no easy hideout from
air pollution for many Europeans.
2. In 2018, the European Environment Agency (EEA) calculated
that air pollution is responsible for 520 000 deaths annually in
41 European countries, at a cost of about €500 billion per year.
If
we add the WHO data for the remaining European countries, the death
toll rises to some 753 000 per year.
The three main pollutants
that are damaging to human health are particulate matter (including
particle-bound polycyclic hydrocarbons), nitrogen dioxide and ozone.
The
health disorders most strongly associated with air pollution include
respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, heart attacks, strokes
and lung cancer. There is also a link with diabetes and obesity,
as well as to dementia in the elderly.
At
the beginning of life, air pollution is linked to lower birth weight,
early alterations in immune development, impaired lung capacity
and delayed neurocognitive development, including reduced IQ. More
recent studies have linked air pollution to mental health disorders
in childhood.
3. Further to the motion for a resolution (
Doc. 14185) tabled by Mr Geraint Davies and other members of the
Parliamentary Assembly, this report will seek to evaluate European
efforts towards improving outdoor air quality and will make policy
recommendations for action in areas where improvements are urgently
needed – bearing in mind public health imperatives and the need
for a Europe-wide holistic approach to air pollution. As rapporteur
appointed in succession to Mr Davies, who has left the Assembly,
I will refer extensively to my predecessor’s research, as well as
the advice received from prominent experts in the field
. Moreover, in order to update the data
used in this report and to obtain better insight into the latest
trends, I carried out a fact-finding visit to the EEA on 17 July
2018
and took part in the First
WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health (held from 30
October to 1 November 2018 in Geneva).
2. A closer look at the situation in Europe
4. Across Europe – despite significant
progress over the last decade – air pollution remains the largest environmental
risk to our health, causing diseases and shortening lives. Far from
being an abstract phenomenon, air pollution affects us all as it
travels long distances beyond national borders. At a short range, it
attacks the most vulnerable amongst us – children, pregnant women
and all those in weaker health in general. WHO’s emerging evidence
suggests that the burden of death and disease from outdoor air pollution is
still underestimated and is “expected to greatly increase”, due
to the persistent nature of mostly man-made pollution sources. Globally
speaking, a number of air pollutants also contribute to climate
change and vice versa.
5. According to the EEA, the transport sector, in particular
road traffic, is a key contributor to poor air quality, notably
in cities: traffic intensity is increasing, and diesel cars have
invaded the public space. Already in 2012, there were over 1 billion
vehicles on the road worldwide, of which approximately one quarter
were in the United States. In 2014, the production of new cars reached
90 million worldwide, with China producing 24 million vehicles,
the European Union 17 million and the US$11.5 million annually.
Transport contributes approximately 15% of greenhouse gas emissions
world-wide and 27% of the European Union’s emissions; it is the
only sector where emissions are rising. Any gains in vehicle fuel
efficiency over the past two decades have been offset by the increasing
number of cars on the road and increasing mileage.
6. Air pollution and climate change concerns in Europe are closely
interlinked. Following the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union mandated
reductions in CO2 from transport during the
1990s. Because diesel is more fuel-efficient than petrol, car manufacturers
in Europe persuaded governments that a change from petrol to diesel-powered
vehicles would help achieve the necessary reductions in CO2 emissions.
Diesel’s share of the new car market has therefore risen dramatically
between 2000 and 2015 (in the United Kingdom, for example, from
around 10% before 2000 to nearly 50% by 2015, while similar increases
have been documented in Italy and Germany), with diesel vehicles
accounting for 52% of new car registrations in the European Union in
2015, just before the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal broke out
and reversed the trend. Because of court action penalising diesel
pollution, diesel car sales in Germany fell by about 10% in one
year by mid-2018, while in the European Union sales declined by
16% during the same period.
7. However, diesel is a dirty fuel in terms of air pollution.
Emissions of
particulates from diesel are an order of magnitude greater than
those from a petrol-driven engine, and emissions of nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) are three to four times higher. Because
there is a trade-off between fuel economy and pollution control,
the technology required to mitigate pollution from diesel vehicles
tends to cancel out gains in fuel efficiency. In addition, diesel
generates other pollutants with a greenhouse effect such as ozone,
nitrous oxide (N2O) and black carbon. Europe
was the only bloc of nations to adopt diesel as a strategy to reduce
CO2 emissions; this has proven to be a failure
from a climate change perspective and a disaster from a public health
perspective.
8. Reference emission standards for new vehicles are set by the
European Union, and the concentration of different pollutants in
the air is controlled by the EU Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC).
The expectation within the European Union was that air quality in
urban areas would improve with the introduction of tighter emission
standards and increasingly efficient pollution control systems.
However, these gains have failed to materialise, leading to several
court actions against member States: in 2017, the European Court
of Justice (ECJ) ruled against Bulgaria and Poland, and in May 2018
the European Commission referred France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Romania and the United Kingdom to the ECJ over their persistent
failure to introduce effective measures to improve air quality.
The European Union has threatened legal action against several other
countries.
Moreover, individual citizens
and civil society organisations have also launched a series of lawsuits
against State inaction to effectively curb outdoor air pollution
and the related health problems and deaths.
9. WHO sets stricter air quality limits than the European Union,
but these are advisory and not legally binding. To limit the risk
of potential harm to health, WHO’s evidence-based guideline norms
on particulate matter state that PM2.5 and PM10 levels should not
exceed an annual mean of, respectively, 10 μg/m3 and 20 μg/m3.
By comparison, the European Union’s Air Quality Directive sets a
mandatory 25 μg/m3 as PM2.5 target and
a 40 μg/m3 objective for PM10; for NO2 pollution,
WHO and EU norms coincide at 40 μg/m3. Ambitious
countries and cities
may therefore voluntarily opt to
pursue the tighter WHO air quality reference values, while the European
Union should be encouraged to align its norms to those set by WHO.
10. There are several reasons why air quality has been so slow
to improve. First, emissions standards for diesel vehicles are much
less stringent than for petrol-driven vehicles, and diesel now represents
a much larger share of the new car market. Second, emissions under
real driving conditions bear little relation to the results in the
laboratory. For example, nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
levels are typically 4 to 5 times higher on the road than under
test conditions. This problem was highlighted by the Volkswagen
scandal, when the company fitted defeat devices to switch off NO2 pollution-control
technology, resulting in real emissions that were 20 to 40 times
higher than those measured under test conditions. Other car manufacturers
have rigged the system by fitting pollution-control technology that
only operates when the engine reaches a certain temperature, resulting
in greatly increased pollution on cold winter days. In addition,
vehicle owners themselves may illegally circumvent pollution control
systems.
11. Moreover, as the discussions in the Committee on Social Affairs,
Health and Sustainable Development have shown, some member States’
industrial policy choices have harmful side effects on air quality
and ultimately also on public health, as well as in terms of greenhouse
gas emissions. Germany, for instance, in a post-Fukushima context,
decided to accelerate the phasing out of its nuclear power plants
and embrace more renewable energy sources, mainly solar and wind.
But the latter provide a more intermittent energy supply, they require
back-up capacity, relying on enhanced use of coal- and gas-powered
plants and thus leading to more air pollution. A healthy balance
between economic priorities and sustainable development needs is
often difficult to achieve.
12. Many non-EU countries in eastern and south-eastern parts of
the continent are struggling with the air pollution phenomenon.
Rapid economic expansion to catch up with the wealthier parts of
Europe is seen as an immediate priority, well ahead of sustainable
development concerns, and air quality is thus relegated to a secondary
concern. Clean development based on new technologies is also more
expensive; as the EU countries are hard-pressed to get rid of dirty
cars and factories, these often end up being exported to the East. As
we shall see in the next chapters, the population’s exposure to
certain pollutants is particularly pronounced in central and eastern
Europe.
3. The
culprits: air pollutants, their sources and impacts on our health
13. There are many sources of man-made
air pollution with major associated effects on health. Here, I shall focus
on the most noxious outdoor pollutants that affect our health most
seriously and hence require the priority attention of policy makers
and regulatory authorities: particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide,
ozone and some others.
3.1. Particulate
matter emissions (PM2.5, PM10 and others)
14. From a public health angle,
the worst pollutant is particulate matter or particulates (the so-called
PM2.5 and PM10):
the
EEA attributes about 84% of deaths from air pollution to them and
countless cases of heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, strokes
and respiratory disorders.
Particulates originate mainly from fuel combustion
in power plants, industry and vehicles, as well as waste incineration
and domestic heating, but also from nature (e.g. pollen, bacteria)
as primary pollutants; some are secondary pollutants floating in
the air after interactions with other chemicals, especially in agriculture.
If larger particulates may be visible as smoke, such as in car exhaust
and forest fires, smaller particles are invisible. In fact, the
smaller the particles, the worse their impacts on our health. Yet
awareness about the dangerousness of ultra-fine particles less than
0.1 microns (PM0.1) is just emerging, and, unfortunately, such particles
are neither routinely studied nor measured.
15. A particularly worrying subset of particulates are polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) being the
only PAH routinely monitored throughout the European Union. They
penetrate the lungs and increase the risk of lung cancer, according
to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). WHO links
29% of deaths from lung cancer worldwide to air pollution, mainly
due to various particulates. Of equal concern is new evidence that
links exposure to PAHs during pregnancy with neurocognitive delay
and mental health disorders during childhood,
including
anxiety, depression and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
Given the largely unexplained surge in such problems in schoolchildren
today, more research is needed in this area.
16. Diesel engines are the main source of particulates in urban
areas. However, this may change with a new generation of petrol-powered
engines, which use gasoline direct injection technology and emit
even more particulates than diesel engines. Clearly, we need to
phase out all fossil fuel-powered vehicles, and not just diesel
engines. In the short term, emissions may be reduced by using pollution
control devices such as particulate traps. These traps are effective
when newly fitted but there are serious doubts about how effective they
are over time, particularly in urban driving conditions. Their efficiency
is not measured in standard vehicle-testing regimes which only employ
a visual smoke detection test. Finally, diesel particulate filters
are less effective at capturing the ultra-fine particles which may
well be the most dangerous biologically.
3.2. Nitrogen
dioxide
17. Fuel burning results in air
pollution with oxides of nitrogen (NOx) which include N2O
(nitrous oxide), NO (nitric oxide) and NO2 (nitrogen
dioxide). From a public health point of view, the latter is the
most toxic, as it not only aggravates asthma, but also causes asthma
in children and adults due to long-term exposure.
Traffic, especially
with diesel cars, determines the level of both particulates and
NO2 pollution in urban areas, and because
they are so closely linked, there has been much debate about their
relative and combined effects on health. The picture is further
complicated by the fact that oxides of nitrogen lead to the formation
of ozone and secondary particulates. The EEA attributes at least
13% of deaths to NO2,
and the estimated impact
of Volkswagen defeat devices on cars is the loss of 13 000 life-years
in Europe, mainly in Germany, over the 2008-2015 period due to higher
levels of ozone and particulates generated by the extra NOx.
3.3. Ozone
18. Ozone (O3)
is a major contributor to respiratory diseases and mortality: it
causes about 16 000 of the premature deaths (3% of the total) from
air pollution in 41 European countries. A secondary pollutant, ozone stems
from photochemical reactions in the sunlight from precursors such
as NOx and volatile organic compounds. Ozone levels, therefore,
tend to be higher in the summer, and are often highest in the countryside, downwind
of urban pollution.
3.4. Other
notable pollutants: sulphur dioxide, benzene, carbon monoxide and
heavy metals
19. Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
emissions from fuels containing sulphur, although declining over
the last few decades, still exceed WHO norms in many places in Europe,
affecting 20% to 38% of the total urban population. They cause inflammation
of the respiratory system and the formation of liquid particulate
aerosols in the air, as well as the acidification of soil and water.
Benzene (C6H6), which
is still used as an additive in fuel across Europe, harms human
cells and increases the risk of developing various cancers. About
80% of the benzene released in Europe comes from fuel consumption
by the transport sector. The EEA reports that 15 European countries
exceed WHO reference levels for this pollutant.
The highest carbon monoxide
(CO) levels, which particularly affect people with some types of
heart diseases, are detected in urban areas during rush-hour traffic
and near large industrial plants. However, excess concentration
(in relation to EU and WHO reference values) has been limited to
four measuring sites in Albania and Germany.
20. Heavy metals – such as zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni),
lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg),
thallium (Tl) and cadmium (Cd) – are known to be directly toxic
to biota through progressive accumulation in the body via air pollution
and the food chain. Exposure to heavy metals has been linked to
developmental retardation, immunological and reproductive effects,
various cancers, kidney damage and deaths. Currently, the largest
emission sources of heavy metals are energy, heat-producing and
industrial facilities associated with fuel combustion. Municipal
waste burning is another major source of heavy metal pollution,
together with dioxins, a cancerogenic substance. However, data on
the population’s exposure to these pollutants is very sparse.
4. So
where do we stand in terms of exposure?
21. Air pollution is not hitting
headlines, but it should. As Dr Arvind Kumar pointed out at the
First WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health,
inhaling air polluted with 22 μg/m3 of
PM2.5 equals one cigarette a day, which means that all inhabitants
become
de facto smokers. In
highly polluted countries, such as India, this means that everyone,
including newborn babies, breathes in, on average, the equivalent
of five to seven cigarettes a day. In these conditions, non-smokers’
lungs turn black by the age of 15-20 years, and the average age
of lung cancer is advanced to 30-40 years of age (compared to 50-60
years of age in 1988). Once lungs turn black, there is no way of
cleaning them. This is truly a public health scandal and an emergency.
22. Across Europe, the population is trapped in toxic air and
is poorly informed about its impacts on health. The table below
shows the percentage of urban EU population exposed to different
pollutants that affect human health according to EU or WHO norms.
For PM2.5, the EU limit is 25 μg/m3 of
air, whereas the WHO level is only 10: this is a big gap when considering
the share of the urban population exposed to unacceptable levels. Thus,
while only 8% of the urban population is exposed to a level of PM2.5
pollution exceeding the EU limit, 85% are concerned with chronic
exposure beyond the WHO limit. Using Dr Kumar’s above-mentioned
parallel, this means that 85% of the population breaths half-a-cigarette
a day. About 40 million people living in the 115 largest EU cities
are exposed to air that exceeds WHO reference values for at least
one pollutant.
Pollutant
|
EU
limit and exposure estimate in %
|
WHO
limit and exposure estimate in %
|
PM10
|
24 hours (50) 19%
|
Annual (20) 52%
|
PM2.5
|
Annual (25) 8%
|
Annual (10) 85%
|
BaP
|
Annual (1) 24%
|
Annual (0.12) 90%
|
NO2
|
Annual (40) 8%
|
Annual (40) 8%
|
SO2
|
24 hours (125) <1%
|
24 hours (20) 38%
|
O3
|
8 hours (120) 30%
|
8 hours (100) 98%
|
Source: EEA; all pollutant levels
(in brackets) are in μg (microgrammes)/m3 of
air apart from Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) which is measured in ng (nanogrammes)/m3.
For exposure estimates, maximum values are retained.
23. It is more difficult to evaluate
the situation concerning air quality in non-EU countries, especially
those not covered by the EEA’s measurements. The EEA’s European
Air Quality Index and the alternative Real-time Air Quality Index
show the worst air pollution hotspots in eastern and south-eastern
Europe, but both lack data for Belarus, the Republic of Moldova,
the Russian Federation, Ukraine, several Balkan countries, and the Caucasus
region, and the EEA has few figures for Turkey. In terms of WHO
data on premature deaths from air pollution, these countries’ scores
are very poor, comparable to the worst-performing countries of the
European Union (Bulgaria, Poland, Slovak Republic, Greece and Italy
for PM2.5, and Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany,
Austria and the United Kingdom for NO2).
WHO’s interactive map for ambient (outdoor) air pollution in non-EU
countries in eastern and south-eastern Europe shows very few measuring
stations, and the values provided indicate hugely excessive exposure
to particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in densely populated areas.
24. Consequences of excessive exposure to air pollution are the
worst for the most vulnerable population groups (children, pregnant
women, people in poor health and certain categories of workers).
Children are particularly affected in unique ways, notably in the
earliest stages of their lives (during foetal development and early
childhood): they breathe faster than adults, inhale more air (including
more pollutants), live closer to the ground where air pollutants
are the most concentrated and spend more time outdoors running and
playing (which intensifies breathing), while their lungs and brains
are rapidly developing; in the womb, they have no escape from their
mother’s exposure to toxic air. The latter can lead to illness and
poor health that will accompany them throughout their lives. According
to WHO, among the total deaths from air pollution 9% are children;
in Europe, child mortality from poor air quality is highest in lower-
and middle-income countries.
25. Across Europe, social inequalities – within and between countries
– tend to penalise the poorest populations in terms of disease (asthma,
heart problems, etc.) and mortality from air pollution. Thus, exposure to
particulate matter (notably PM2.5) and ozone is highest in eastern
and south-eastern Europe, regions which are plagued by high poverty
and unemployment rates. Within countries, the most socially deprived
urban areas also bear the brunt of air pollution and its impact
on health. A recent study shows that, for instance, in and around
London, nearly half of the most disadvantaged areas have the worst
air quality as compared with a modest 2% of the wealthiest areas;
similar trends have been observed in France, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands,
some regions of the United Kingdom (Wales) and Belgium (Wallonia).
26. If air pollution continues with “business as usual” attitudes,
the right of present and future generations to a healthy living
environment will be compromised. We can no longer be sure that our
children would have better lives, because our inaction today is
destroying their future. It is not surprising that children are
taking their protest to the street as the wave of global children’s
movement on climate change has shown. The message is clear: we all
need a cleaner planet – based on sustainable development for a healthy
and prosperous future.
5. Legal
tools and benchmarks for air pollution controls
5.1. Major
European legal references for cleaner air
27. Along with a plethora of national
regimes for air quality controls, European countries have a number
of international tools at their disposal. The key reference instrument
is the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), as
well as its protocols, among which the Gothenburg Protocol (1999,
amended in 2012) is the most important one. Nearly all Council of
Europe member States (except for Andorra and San Marino), as well
as the European Union, are Parties to the Convention which covers
a wide range of air pollutants. In addition, the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001) obliges European countries
and the European Union to eliminate dioxins; Andorra, Italy
and San
Marino are not Parties to this convention.
28. EU countries are all subject to the community clean air policy
based on three pillars: 1) the Ambient Air Quality Directives (of
2004 and 2008) mandating the adoption of national air quality plans;
2) the National Emission Ceilings Directive (of 2016) prescribing
national emission reduction targets and related control mechanisms;
3) specific emission and
energy efficiency standards for major sources of air pollution,
from vehicles and fuels to products and industry. The Clean Air
Programme for Europe published in 2013 obliges EU members to ensure
full compliance with current legislation by 2020 and to keep improving
air quality so as to half the number of premature deaths by 2030
compared with 2005. The European Commission is now reviewing its
air quality directives and benchmarks, and should proceed to aligning
its reference limits with WHO norms.
29. WHO’s Air quality guidelines (2000 and 2005 editions) are
used as a worldwide reference, although in Europe, EU member States
are bound by the softer community norms. In 2015, in light of the
new evidence of the toxicity of air pollution, WHO launched the
re-evaluation of its guidelines and estimated that existing norms should
be reassessed as a matter of priority as regards particulate matter
(including PAHs and notably benzo(a)pyrene), ozone, NO2,
SO2, carbon monoxide and benzene, as well
as for certain heavy metals (such as cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel
and arsenic).
30. Concerning mercury concentrations in the air, the European
Union and several of its member States ratified the Minamata Convention
on Mercury (United Nations, 2013), in May 2017 which has enabled
this convention’s entry into force. It is hoped that this step will
lead to more careful measurements of mercury emissions and exposure.
5.2. Geneva
Action Plan – Europe in the global context
31. From a global perspective,
tackling outdoor air pollution to prevent diseases and deaths would
also contribute to reaching targets under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, in particular the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (on
health), Goal 7 (clean energy), Target 11.6 (air quality in cities), Target 11.2
(access to sustainable transport), and Goal 13 (on climate change).
Already in 2016, the World Health Assembly had put forward the “Road
map for an enhanced global response to the health effects of air pollution”.
Then, in 2018, WHO rolled out an ambitious action plan – the Geneva
Action Agenda to Combat Air Pollution – aiming to mobilise global,
national and local players to reduce the number of deaths from air pollution
by two thirds by 2030,
which is a much more ambitious goal
than the European Union’s target.
32. In its grand lines, the WHO plan thus foresees the scaling
up of efforts worldwide under the BreatheLife campaign, a massive
reduction of fossil fuel and biomass burning, a push for circular
economies and clean cities, the enhanced protection of the most
vulnerable populations (notably children), a boost for partnerships to
obtain climate, air and health co-benefits under the SDGs, harmonised
air pollution monitoring, and awareness raising on air pollution
as a key factor for improving health and quality of life. The nitty-gritty
of implementation steps is now in the hands of multi-sector stakeholders,
many of whom took part in the First WHO Global Conference on Air
Pollution and Health, and made voluntary commitments on air quality
targets.
5.3. European
Healthy Cities Network: sharing good practice for cleaner air
33. Improving air quality across
Europe is unthinkable without strong involvement, political vision
and wisdom of local actors. Some 1 400 European municipalities work
together under the WHO European Healthy Cities Network for the strategic
engagement of local government institutions in piloting changes,
capacity building, partnership-based planning and innovation around
the quality of life and well-being in cities. The Network’s vision
for the future advocates inclusive societies and shared prosperity
through sustainable development which covers clean air imperatives.
34. Examples of good practice at European cities’ level speak
loudest about the positive changes on the ground. Perhaps the most
radical measure is a ban on polluting cars (notably diesel cars):
in 2018, several large cities (Oslo, Madrid, Hamburg, Stuttgart,
Copenhagen, Helsinki, Paris, London, Brussels, Rome, to mention
just a few) announced more or less extensive bans, mainly as of
2019-2020 or later. The extension of pedestrian zones in central
districts, increases in congestion and “old car” charges, the introduction
of “zero and low emissions” zones, and the promotion of cycling
and clean public transport are among the measures which have been
put in place.
Many
German cities have been ordered by local administrative courts to
enact bans or extensive restrictions on diesel cars (such as Aachen,
Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Essen, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Mainz).
35. In parallel, electric and hybrid vehicles are gaining ground,
as municipalities expand recharge networks and national or local
measures penalise dirty cars with “green taxes”. In “virtuous” cities
such as Copenhagen, about 40% of trips within the town are by bicycle
and some 75% of the city’s inhabitants use bicycles daily. Various
forms of green taxation appear to be one of the most effective means
to implement the “polluter pays” principle and thereby reduce air
pollution. These taxes can be introduced at national or local level
and tax proceeds thus gathered can serve to finance public infrastructure
for cleaner mobility, renovation of municipal waste processing facilities
or maintenance of urban green spaces. At the same time, national
policy makers need to be attentive to the greater sourcing of electricity
from renewable energy sources and to ensure the traceability of
the materials and processes used for making batteries for electric
vehicles, so that third countries involved do not use child labour
in any part of the production chain.
5.4. Gaps
in national legislation and practice?
36. A parliamentary survey of national
laws, regulations and norms on air quality (including sanctions
for infringements) carried out by the European Centre for Parliamentary
Research and Documentation (ECPRD) in 2017 across Council of Europe
member States provides valuable insights into the situation in 24
countries, mainly those belonging to the European Union.
All
of these countries have a comprehensive legislative basis for air
quality protection. However, half of European countries (notably
those in eastern and south-eastern Europe with the worst air quality
situation) failed to reply to the questionnaire. Domestic legal
obligations for air quality monitoring and assessment are therefore
not clear for this region.
37. In terms of national compliance with international obligations
on air quality control as enshrined in the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution and its eight protocols, EU member States
have so far engaged much more strongly than countries in eastern
and south-eastern Europe; the latter have barely embraced the convention’s
protocols which constitute the most powerful regulatory framework.
Overall, progress among participating States is lacking on ground-level
ozone, particulate matter and heavy metals, as well as more generally
with regard to persistent organic pollutants. Moreover, economic
concerns have led many States to water down their commitments on
air quality improvements by 2020, and experts note that the general
level of ambition is largely insufficient to adequately protect
both our health and the environment.
38. Importantly, the 1999 Gothenburg Protocol contains specific
provisions on public access to information on air quality, such
as national annual emissions, pollution levels, and the health and
environmental effects of air pollutants. These obligations are further
amplified through the enhanced transparency regime embodied by the
1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation
in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.
Making adequate information on air quality available to the public
is crucial for reasons of transparency and democratic control, particularly
in the more polluted countries that escape the European Union’s
scrutiny and are not covered by the EEA’s air data collection network.
39. The situation in my own country (Ukraine) is critical in many
aspects in relation to air quality challenges. This concerns the
institutional set-up for air quality controls, technical problems
due to aging air monitoring equipment, and compliance with the best
international practice, including relevant provisions of EU directives. Currently,
competences and responsibilities of governmental institutions participating
in the air monitoring system are not clear, major air pollutants
(PM2.5, PM10, ozone) are not subject to monitoring, and methodology
is outdated. Moreover, information on air quality is not disseminated
to the public, and sampling frequency is not in line with EU and
WHO requirements. However, many essential changes are underway in light
of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement. For instance, the Government
of Ukraine has developed draft legislation on a new system of air
monitoring and management based on EU standards. This legislation, currently
going through the public stakeholders’ consultation process, will
streamline a national system of collecting, analysing and disseminating
air quality information, and more importantly, lay a basis for effective improvements
in air quality.
40. Whilst some European countries are taking effective measures
to rein in air pollution, many are struggling with the implementation
of existing requirements and the death toll keeps rising. Data comparisons based
on the EEA’s air quality reports for 2018 and 2017 show that Nordic
countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and partly Norway),
Belgium, Poland and the United Kingdom have managed to reduce deaths
from air pollution, whereas the situation deteriorated in the remaining
countries covered. Some countries achieved positive results in lowering
PM2.5 and NO2 pollution (Czech Republic and
the Netherlands), just PM2.5 pollution (Albania, Germany, Lithuania,
North Macedonia, Switzerland), or only NO2 pollution (Bulgaria,
Romania).
41. National ozone reduction strategies do not seem to work, and
ozone levels remain problematic all over Europe, in particular in
the Mediterranean region. This is mainly due to a combination of
traffic plus industry emissions and climate warming trends, with
only 4% of measuring sites meeting WHO recommended values.
6. Arresting
air pollution: the need for strong and concerted action
42. Clean air is our basic human
right: when we are born, the first thing we do is take a gulp of
air. Wherever we live, we need air to be breathable and not to shorten
or impair our lives. Because air pollution crosses borders so easily,
we need concerted action across Europe. The current EU norms are
a helpful benchmark for its member States, but they need to be fully
aligned with the more stringent WHO Air quality guidelines and must
be better enforced. Non-EU States should follow WHO guidelines,
which could be built into national legislation on the grounds of
protecting the public health of citizens.
43. Council of Europe member States need to work harder to reduce
air pollution, both in the short and long term. Depending on the
specificity of a national situation in terms of key pollutants and
sources of pollution, measures deployed or strengthened could include
improvements in emissions testing methods, comprehensive real-time
monitoring of air quality and information to the public, fiscal
incentives and penalties, sustainable urban planning
(such
as clean air zones with traffic restrictions, the expanded use of
public transport and cleaner fuels, the promotion of cycling) and
enhanced investment in clean technologies for industry (in particular
transport and energy sectors), agriculture and households (notably
for heating systems and personal mobility). Where laws and norms
for regulating air quality are not comprehensive enough at national
level, parliamentary action should help rectify the situation.
44. Importantly, we must see the problem of air pollution as part
of a broader picture: the massive degradation of our living space
has far-reaching harmful effects on present and future generations.
We are literally cutting the branch upon which we are perched. Alarm
bells are ringing about environmental risks (regarding natural capital,
climate, biodiversity, chemical leaching), interactions and tipping
points that are driving our society into developmental breakdown
with major social, economic and political disruptions in sight.
By tackling air pollution through
multisectoral efforts, we can build upon existing synergies and
undo the harm to our health, our well-being and the planet.