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Air pollution represents a great danger and critical threat to both human health and environmental stability. However, the vast majority of population remains unaware of these threats, though respiratory sickness is the second largest threat to health in the EU after cardio-vascular. Data about air quality in the EU-27 and around the world helps to increase peoples’ awareness; but monitors have proven to enhance the availability of crucial data on air pollution levels worldwide.
Background
The European Commission has been building a strong European Health Union, in which all EU countries prepare and respond together to health crises, medical supplies are available, affordable and innovative; EU states are working together to improve prevention, treatment and aftercare for various diseases. Hence, the European Health Union helps: e.g. better protecting the citizens’ health; equipping the member states in preventing and addressing future pandemics; and improving the resilience of Europe’s health systems.
Reference to: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-way-life/european-health-union_en
The EU health union is based on the legal ground that the member states “hold primary responsibility for organising and delivering health services and medical care”. Therefore, the EU health policy serves to complement national policies, to ensure health protection in all EU policies and supplement states’ efforts towards stronger health systems.
EU policies and actions in public health aim to: – protect and improve the health of EU citizens; – support the modernisation and digitalisation of health systems and infrastructure; – improve the resilience of the states’ health systems, and – equip EU countries to better prevent and address future pandemics.
Strategic health issues are subject to coordination: they are discussed by representatives of national authorities and the European Commission at a senior-level working group on public health. EU institutions, countries, regional and local authorities, as well as other interest groups contribute to the implementation of the EU’s health strategy and annual work programs.
European Commission’s role
The European Commission’s Directorate for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE): a) supports the efforts of EU countries to protect and improve the health of their citizens and to ensure the accessibility, effectiveness and resilience of their health systems. This is done through various means, including by: i.e. proposing legislation, providing financial support, coordinating and facilitating the exchange of best practices between EU countries and health experts, and coordinate health promotion activities.
More in: https://health.ec.europa.eu/eu-health-policy/overview_en
There is a special Commission’s cite “the State of Health in the EU”, which aims at making health system information, expertise and best practices easily accessible to policymakers and all citizens.
Source: https://health.ec.europa.eu/state-health-eu/health-glance-europe/health-glance-europe-2024_en
In the environmental protection n the EU, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy (Jessika Roswall) is prioritizing incentives for nature positive actions in protecting water and air quality. The EU has established ambient air quality standards to be achieved by all EU countries; it focuses on the potential health and environmental effects of air pollution from emissions such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds and particulates. E.g. the member states must report on air quality zones designated under the Ambient Air Quality Directives.
On air quality zones in: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/air-quality/air-quality-zones_en
Air quality: EU and the world
Since the 1980s, the EU has been implementing policies on air quality that have contributed to a substantial decrease in most air pollutants over the past decades. However, the air quality challenge is far from being solved: although the number of people exposed to harmful air pollution has significantly decreased, exposure levels remain high for several air pollutants persistently exceeding the World Health Organization guidelines.
The revised Ambient Air Quality Directive addresses these challenges by building on the previous policies and aligning EU air quality standards more closely with scientific recommendations. Where levels are elevated above EU air quality standards, the states must prepare air quality plans to keep “exceeding periods” as short as possible.
Source: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/air-quality_en
Estonia is a EU state where over half of the country exceeds WHO guidelines on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is a harmful pollutant that is one of the main causes of smog. “Air quality points” in Estonia are actively working to reduce emissions from industry, particularly by transitioning toward cleaner and renewable energy sources. However, Tallinn, Estonia’s capital is among the ten least polluted capital cities in the world. Experts confirm that the country has been proactive in regulations, implementing stringent air quality standards and a growing air quality monitoring network; besides, the country has a low population density as well as less pollution overall with extensively enlarges forested areas.
Among the most polluted capital cities in the EU are Bucharest, Warsaw and Prague; although they are far from the smog-filled air of Baghdad, Hanoi and the world’s worst, New Delhi.
There has been notable progress in expanding air quality monitoring across various countries, regions, and territories over the past 12 months. However, considerable gaps still exist in nation-wide regulatory systems in many parts of the world. Low-cost air quality monitors – used by citizens, scientists, researchers, community advocates and local organizations – have proven to be effective tools to address these gaps. Powerful industry group BusinessEurope, for example, has pushed to reopen the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive, IED the primary piece of EU legislation regulating industrial pollutant emissions. France has also requested that reporting stipulations under the IED be watered down; the rules still remain safe from the Commission’s regulatory bonfire. But the EU’s incoming combustion engine ban, too, is under fire.
Romania’s air quality remains the worst in the EU, partly due to industrial emissions from factories and high levels of vehicle emissions, particularly in major cities like Bucharest.
But there’s cause for optimism: the country has shown slow but steady progress and its 2024 PM2.5 concentration is the lowest in the country’s history. The air of neighboring Hungary has become slightly worse compared to the last year, but the progress is evident.
The EU countries are making progress on air quality and many are already among the least polluted globally, thanks in part to tighter emissions rules and a shift to renewable energy sources. Greece e.g. has made significant improvement in air quality in 2024, which attributes to a focus on renewable energy sources, as well as a reduction in wildfire activity in 2024. “Significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting renewable energy, transitioning away from fossil fuels, pushing for cleaner industrial practices and advocating sustainable agriculture are key toward reducing air pollution and meeting WHO guidelines,” mentioned Politico and added: “we have already seen most of the countries who meet WHO guidelines around the world have implemented these practices.”
Air pollution remains a critical threat to both human health and environmental stability at the global level; besides, vast populations remain unaware of the polluted air exposure’s threats. Air quality data can help saving peoples’ lives, creating much needed awareness, informs policy decisions, guiding public health interventions and empowers communities to take action to reduce air pollution and protect future generations. Recent World Air Quality Report appeared amid steady backlash against EU green legislation and a drive from the European Commission to “simplify” environmental protections in a bid to bolster the region’s faltering industry.
Among key findings from the 2024 World Air Quality Report are: only 17% of global cities meet WHO air pollution guideline; seven countries met the WHO annual average PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m3: i.e. Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand.
Source: 2024 World Air Quality Report in
https://www.iqair.com/newsroom/waqr-2024-pr
The WHO puts the safe zone for PM2.5 levels at under 5 micrograms per cubic meter: thus only 12 countries fall into that category, including Estonia, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand. The rest are island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific, with the Bahamas are taking active part in the race for the world’s cleanest air.
Central and South Asia continues to experience some of the worst air pollution in the world, with five of the 10 most polluted countries and nine of the 10 most polluted cities globally. India’s New Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital city, exceeding WHO PM2.5 guidelines by over 10 times.
The United States, which is seeing an upending of many environmental policies under President Donald Trump, has some of the cleanest air in the world, beating all but five of the EU-27 member states; though the US is still above WHO recommendations.
Main source and citations from: https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-air-quality-cleanest-air-estonia-tallinn-eu-pollution/