Urban pollution is too high according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which was published on Wednesday 15 January. Air pollution has decreased but as things stand, future standards will not be met.
According to the European Environment Agency, polluted air is responsible for the deaths of at least 250,000 people in Europe every year. Prolonged exposure to noise is also responsible for 48,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease and 12,000 premature deaths every year in Europe.
In 2021, the European Commission set targets for reducing polluted air and harmful noise by 2030, as part of the ‘European Green Deal’. The impact of air pollution on health should be reduced by 55% and the threat to biodiversity in EU ecosystems as a result of this pollution should be reduced by 25%. The number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise should fall by 30%. The ECA specified that these objectives were not binding.
Air quality has improved. Nevertheless, the pollution generated by cars and lorries remains a major problem. In 2022, the maximum authorised concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air was still being exceeded in 10 Member States. Domestic heating is responsible for 43% of PM10 emissions and 62% of PM2.5 emissions. However, progress has been made towards the zero pollution action plan, with premature deaths linked to polluted air falling from 431,114 in 2005 to 253,305 – a reduction of 41%.
Noise pollution. According to the ECA, it is “practically impossible” to assess the progress made in respect of noise pollution since there are still too many gaps when it comes to monitoring this type of pollution. At the time of the audit, 15 Member States had not yet provided all the required data. According to a 2022 report by the European Environment Information and Observation Network, around 200 million people were exposed to harmful levels of noise resulting from road, rail and air work.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) is responsible for enforcing the directives on air and noise. However, the infringement procedure is too long and not very effective. The report also admitted that the introduction of low emission zones in cities was “an extremely sensitive issue” in the public debate.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/f27 (Original version in French by Florent Servia)