Air pollution scourge underestimated

Air pollution is an underestimated scourge that kills far more people than AIDS and malaria and a shift to cleaner energy could easily halve the toll by 2030, according to United Nations officials.

A 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) study found that 3.5 million people die early annually from indoor air pollution and 3.3 million from outdoor air pollution.

“The problem has been underestimated in the past,” Maria Neira, the WHO’s director of public health and environment, told Reuters. “More than 6 million deaths every year are caused by air pollution,” she said. “The horrible thing is that this will be growing because of rising use of fossil fuels.”

“If we increase access to clean energy ... the health benefits will be enormous.”, she said.

Source: Reuters, 10 April 2013.
 

Finding the ambition level

A tentative central ambition level for 2025 has been identified that would further reduce air pollution damage, but it is still insufficient to achieve the EU’s long-term objective of effectively protecting peoples’ health and the environment. 

Editorial: Public money for public environmental goods

Potatoes, milk and bacon, almost everything we eat comes from agriculture. That is plain fact, but agriculture is also responsible for 90 per cent of the ammonia emissions and at least 11 per cent of the greenhouse gases in the European Union.

Significant cuts in carbon emissions within reach

The CO2 emissions of the Nordic and Baltic countries can be cut by 70 per cent by 2020 or soon after, and by 95 per cent by 2030, without nuclear power and CCS, shows a new AirClim report.

Call for international nitrogen framework

A global framework on nutrients could be a way forward to address the extensive problems of pollution caused by excess nitrogen and other nutrients, suggests a recent UNEP report.

Coal pollution kills Indians

Air pollution from India’s coal power plants causes around 100,000 premature deaths every year – yet there are no national emission standards for key pollutants such as SO2 and NOx.

Eight countries continue to exceed their emission ceilings

Car fleet dieselisation combined with high real-life driving emissions contribute to seven countries still failing to meet NOx reduction targets.

Stricter US standards for road vehicles proposed

The proposed Tier 3 standards should reduce emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides by 80 per cent and particulate matter by 70 per cent, compared to today’s car fleet average standards.

Every breath we take – air quality in Europe

In the 2013 edition of their Signals report, the European Environment Agency (EEA) takes a closer look at air quality. “Signals 2013 – Every breath we take” consists of short and accessible articles covering a wide range of aspects related to air quality.

Call for long-term CO2 targets

The European Parliament Environment Committee has proposed a 120kph speed limit for vans from 2014 and 2025 CO2 targets for both cars and vans.

Shipping should cut greenhouse gases and air pollutants

Due to its dependence on fossil fuels and the fact that it is one of the least regulated emission sources, emissions from the marine transport sector contribute significantly and increasingly to air pollution and climate change.

Stricter air pollution rules for machinery on the way

Emission standards for the non-road sector should be extended and strengthened in line with the Euro VI standards for road vehicles, environmental groups demand.

Coal costs health €43 billion a year

A phase-out of coal power generation is imperative, with a moratorium on new coal power plants as a first step.

CCS sidelined by tenuous financing

Carbon, capture and storage (CCS) has still not proven to be anything else than an inordinately expensive technology on an experimental level. Nevertheless the European Commission continues to embrace it.

Smaller carbon footprint from food

German diets have become more climate-friendly in the past twenty years, but there is great scope to reduce the carbon footprint from food consumption even more.

Europe’s dirty dozen

The most polluting point sources in Europe increased their carbon, sulphur and nitrogen oxides emissions in 2011.

US anti-coal campaign crosses halfway mark

Environmental group the Sierra Club has announced that its Beyond Coal campaign is more than halfway toward meeting its goal of responsibly securing the retirement of a third of the coal-fired power capacity in the United States.

Climate and energy package on its way

The EU’s 2030 package will hopefully be ready for adoption just before the deadline for a new UN agreement on climate change, energy commissioner Günther Oettinger states.

Guidance on renewable enery subsidies

Renewables will soon be the subject of a new guidance that the EU Commission will publish in July. The paper will give advice on how to set up support schemes, how to fine-tune existing ones and how to phase out subsidies on technologies ..

Green tax revenue unchanged in 2011

The EU’s revenue from environmental taxes has stagnated for the second year in succession, recent figures from Eurostat indicate. In 2012 environmental taxation ..

Climate change up in UN Security Council

China and Russia blocked a proposal to have climate change recognised as an international security threat, when the issue was brought up by Pakistan and ..

Parliament wants to strengthen 7EAP

On 25 April, the European Parliament’s environment committee adopted a number of amendments for strengthening the EU’s 7th Environment Action Programme (7EAP) ..

Shipping and aviation emits more CO2

Shipping and aviation represented around 3.2 and 2.1 per cent respectively of global CO2 emissions in the mid-2000s. A wide range of projections and scenarios ..

Sea-level rise world map

Are you worried you will get wet feet in the future? Now you can easily find out with an online world map showing the coastlines with different levels of sea-level rise.

Ferries to switch from oil to methanol

Swedish ferry operator Stena Line is investigating the opportunity to convert 25 of its vessels to run on methanol. The case for methanol as an alternative fuel ..

Decision on NECAs in the Baltic due in October

Countries surrounding the Baltic Sea will decide on when to apply to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the creation of a Nitrogen Oxides Emission Control Area ..

Ships’ NOx limit may be delayed

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) may delay the implementation of stricter limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for ships operating in emission control areas ..

UK in breach of EU air quality rules

Britain’s highest appeal court, the Supreme Court, has ruled that the UK is in breach of the EU air quality directive. However, before deciding on further action, the Supreme Court referred ..

Air pollution scourge underestimated

Air pollution is an underestimated scourge that kills far more people than AIDS and malaria and a shift to cleaner energy could easily halve the toll by 2030, according to United Nations officials.

Consultation on future international climate policy

The EU Commission has opened a public consultation on how to best shape an international climate change regime between 2020 and 2030.

French maize will suffer in a warmer climate

Yields of maize in France are likely to decrease by more than ten per cent over the next two decades as a result of a warmer climate.

Climate change already affecting the US

The American people are already feeling the impact of global warming; this message is clear in the draft of a US National Climate Assessment Report that was released in January 2013.

Creepy crawlies food of the future?

A recent Dutch study has found that protein from mealworms generates about half as much greenhouse gas emissions compared to protein from milk, pork or chicken, and about a tenth of protein from beef.

European Parliament rejected backloading

On 16 April, the European Parliament voted to reject a proposal to “backload” 900 million carbon allowances, as a way to temporarily revive the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).