Europe’s plan is credible, top EU lawmaker says
Europe has a “credible plan” to reach new air quality targets, said Pascal Canfin, chair of the European parliament’s environment committee.
The French parliamentarian, who is a member of the centrist Renew Europe group, told the Guardian this week that there are blueprints in place to tackle what he described as the three key drivers of air pollution: road traffic, coal and nitrogen.
Last week, the European parliament called for a stricter 2035 limit for several pollutants. Canfin’s committee had originally voted in favour of 2030 limits, but the timeline shifted amid opposition from right-wing politicians.
“We would have easily supported 2030 in the plenary but we knew that we would have lost because it was considered by some as too early,” Canfin said. “We tabled an amendment to postpone from 2030 to 2035 in order to keep the WHO target alive from a political perspective.”
“I personally could have been more ambitious, but there is no point in being ambitious and lose,” he said, adding that the parliament’s position is still “way better than the commission proposal and the current situation.”
Key events
‘No quick solutions’ for air pollution, North Macedonia minister says
North Macedonia is the worst-hit country in Europe when it comes to dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a Guardian investigation published this week.
But Kaja Shukova, North Macedonia’s environment minister, said that “air pollution is a problem that we work on continuously and for which there are no quick solutions.”
In an emailed statement, Shukova said that her ministry creates policies following European and global standards. “What is important,” the minister wrote, “is the support and strengthening of the local capacities of the municipalities.”
“From our investment programs, we have so far financially supported the creation of 10 plans for dealing with air pollution for 10 cities/municipalities that have shown the highest level of air pollution in the past years,” she said.
North Macedonia, Shukova noted, is “working on gasification, changing the ways of heating with more ecological ones in state and public institutions, and of course functioning of the state monitoring system for ambient air quality.”
Ajit Niranjan
The hills that circle Skopje keep citizens safe when smog grows thick, but they also trap the toxins that make its air among the most menacing of any city in Europe.
The mountains are the only escape, says Katarina, a 33-year-old accountant, as she walks home from an evening hike. “I was wearing a mask for air pollution before Covid.”
Dirty fuel, bad design and tricky terrain have for decades choked the capital of North Macedonia. The city sits in a valley where ageing factories whirr next to homes and offices. In winter, when people stoke stoves with waste wood and rubbish, warm air rises up to meet the cold and heavy mountain air above, forming a lid that traps pollution close to the ground.
The clouds last for days if the wind does not blow. “It feels and tastes like burnt plastic,” says Dragana Gjurcinoska, a 29-year-old event manager at the Panoramika hotel at the foot of the Vodno mountain.
Skopje is home to three of the most polluted districts on the continent, a Guardian analysis based on modelling of European air quality data has revealed.
Read the full story here.
Europe’s plan is credible, top EU lawmaker says
Europe has a “credible plan” to reach new air quality targets, said Pascal Canfin, chair of the European parliament’s environment committee.
The French parliamentarian, who is a member of the centrist Renew Europe group, told the Guardian this week that there are blueprints in place to tackle what he described as the three key drivers of air pollution: road traffic, coal and nitrogen.
Last week, the European parliament called for a stricter 2035 limit for several pollutants. Canfin’s committee had originally voted in favour of 2030 limits, but the timeline shifted amid opposition from right-wing politicians.
“We would have easily supported 2030 in the plenary but we knew that we would have lost because it was considered by some as too early,” Canfin said. “We tabled an amendment to postpone from 2030 to 2035 in order to keep the WHO target alive from a political perspective.”
“I personally could have been more ambitious, but there is no point in being ambitious and lose,” he said, adding that the parliament’s position is still “way better than the commission proposal and the current situation.”
Everyone can’t be perfect, Bulgarian minister says
Adjusting European standards to the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on air quality “will be a difficult debate,” said Bulgarian environment minister Julian Popov.
Speaking to the Guardian, the minister said that in his view “standards should be set at levels that will not discourage countries to achieve them.”
Popov argued that European and international standards should give an “orientation” while countries and municipalities should set their own, which could vary.
“We can’t ask everybody to be absolutely perfect,” the Bulgarian minister said, adding: “The standard should be set to prevent danger.”
European standards “could be tightened — but they are adequate,” he said.
Bulgaria has made progress over the past years, according to Popov. “Things are getting better and better,” he said. “Air quality standards are reasonably good,” he said. But, he added: “that’s not enough, obviously, because cleaner air is better.”
We’re all breathing toxic air
Good morning and welcome back to the Guardian’s Europe live blog. Today we will be looking at an issue impacting all of us: air pollution.
Almost all Europeans are living in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, a Guardian investigation has found. Parts of eastern Europe and Italy have particularly high levels of PM2.5, tiny airborne particles mostly produced from the burning of fossil fuels.
Read this fascinating dispatch by the Guardian’s Angela Giuffrida from Cremona, a province south of Milan where residents say life is becoming unbearable amid pollution from industry, cars and farm animal waste. And see how your area compares in this interactive map.
As always, we want to hear from you: send comments and suggestions to [email protected].
