While emissions of atmospheric pollutants in the EU have continued their downward trend since 2005, reducing ammonia emissions, 93% of which are produced by agriculture, remains the main challenge if Member States are to achieve their 2030 targets, according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) published on Wednesday 28 June.
This report concerns Directive 2016/2284 (NEC Directive) which sets national emission limits for five air pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
It is based on the latest available data communicated by the Member States in 2023 for the year 2021 and does not constitute a compliance report, but rather an analysis of performance.
The EEA confirms that, since 2005, ammonia emissions have fallen only slightly in many Member States, and have even increased in some cases.
10 Member States will need to reduce their ammonia emissions from 2021 levels to meet their reduction commitments for the period 2020-2029, according to the report. The EEA points out that ammonia causes water eutrophication (algae proliferation) through the excessive presence of nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems, but is also a precursor of very fine particles that are harmful to health.
For all pollutants, 13 Member States met their respective national emission reduction commitments for the period 2020-2029 for each of the 5 main pollutants and 13 others failed to do so for at least one of them, while one Member State did not submit a report.
With the exception of sulphur dioxide - a pollutant for which many countries are already meeting the 2030 target - the EEA points out that achieving further reductions by 2030 and beyond will be a major challenge for almost all EU countries, for almost all pollutants, as emission reduction rates stabilise.
View the EEA report: https://aeur.eu/f/7t3 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)