Coal-fired power could be considerably cleaner

Designating the Baltic Sea as a NOx Emission Control Area will more than halve ships’ NOx emissions by 2040

Reducing concentrations of particulate air pollution would lead to significant gains for public health, according to new review from an independent expert group.

A new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) evaluates three key EU policy instruments for air pollution control and finds that they have significantly improved Europe’s air quality and reduced pollution-induced health damage. There is however scope for further improvement, if countries achieve all their binding commitments to reduce emissions.

The annual benefits of achieving the interim targets of the thematic strategy on air pollution are valued at 15-49 billion euro in 2020.

Water vapour and clouds are the major contributors to Earth’s greenhouse effect, but a new atmosphere-ocean climate modelling study shows that the planet’s temperature ultimately depends on the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide.

Among the plethora of acronyms flooding global climate negotiations, LULUCF is one of the most frequently used. Interpreted Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry it has been a controversial issue in the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation since the beginning. The battle is still raging in an almost impenetrable fog of calculation methods, reference levels, caps and exceptions and with devils in virtually every detail.