07/09/2021 (Agence Europe) – Air pollution from coal-fired power plants in the Western Balkans is estimated to have killed around 19,000 people over the past three years, and more than half of them are in European Union countries, according to a report published by the CEE Bankwatch Network and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air on Tuesday 7 September to mark ‘International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies’. The two organisations have denounced violations of the legally binding air pollution limits that were set under the European directive (2001/80) on large combustion plants. In 2020, the 18 coal-fired power plants in the Western Balkans emitted two and a half times more sulphur dioxide (SO2) than all 221 coal-fired power plants in the EU combined, the report said. According to the document, almost 12,000 of the 19,000 deaths are the result of violations of pollution limits. See the report: https://bit.ly/3yQlunt (DG)