EU Gives Nine States Ultimatum on Air Quality
Ministers from nine EU Member States were convened in Brussels January 30 by the EU's environment commissioner Karmenu Vella in what she termed "a final effort to find solutions" on air pollution.
The Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the UK face infringement procedures for exceeding agreed air pollution limits.
Vella called on the nine states to finalise their submissions by end of next week on how they intend to comply with EU law on air quality or else face legal action.
After the meeting, she gave the following statement: "This Commission has consistently said that it wishes to be 'big on the big things'. And it doesn't get bigger than the loss of life due to air pollution.... still today, in 2018, 400 000 people are still dying prematurely every year because of a massive, widespread failure to address the problem. And many more suffer unnecessarily from air quality related diseases. I am sure that those present at this morning's meeting share my frustration that a sense of urgency is not always evident across member states, and across other ministries."
The latest official European Environment Agency (EEA) 2017 annual report on air quality found that in 2014 an estimated 428,000 premature deaths in Europe during 2014 were the result of long-term exposure to particulates (very fine soot particles), of whom around 399,000 were in the EU-28. Much of the particulate pollution in cities and towns is caused by road vehicle exhausts, especially from diesel-fuelled vehicles (this is particularly true in the UK where former London Mayor, now UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson disregarded repeated air quality warnings). However, the EEA says other pollutants are generated by fossil-fuel power generation (especially coal), industries including iron & steel plus cement, and waste incineration.
The International Gas Union presented a report in 2016 that said also by increasing gas use in Europe, at the expense of coal, urban air pollution can be significantly reduced. The EU and certain member states are also backing schemes to encourage oil-fuelled vehicles to be replaced over time by electric and natural gas (including LNG) fuelled vehicles.
Oil companies are becoming increasingly sensitive to urban pollution. BP said January 30 its venturing business has invested $5mn in FreeWire Technologies (FreeWire), a US-based manufacturer of mobile electric vehicle (EV) rapid charging systems and plans to roll out FreeWire’s Mobi charger units for use at selected BP retail sites in the UK and Europe during 2018. BP Downstream chief Tufan Erginbilgic said: “Mobility is changing and BP is committed to remaining the fuel retailer of choice into the future; EV charging will undoubtedly become an important part of our business, but customer demand and the technologies available are still evolving." Shell too is devising a strategy for electric cars, while firms such as Eni and Uniper are investing in natural gas vehicle fuelling infrastructure.
Update January 31: Annual legal EU air pollution limits were reached in London in just the first month of 2018, the BBC reported; however that's a marked improvement on the previous decade.