Christer Ågren

Designating the North Atlantic as an Emission Control Area could lead to significant air pollution reductions from shipping that would benefit both human health and the environment.

Four Swedish environmentalist organisations set up a joint project for the international dissemination of information on air pollution and acidification. This leads to the establishment of the Swedish NGO Secretariat on Acid Rain in January 1982, re-named the Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat (AirClim) in 2008.

The cost of damage caused by pollutant emissions into the air from the largest 12,000 industrial facilities in 2017 has been estimated at €277–433 billion, and half of the total cost was caused by less than two per cent of plants.

Policies that protect the population from the effects of air pollution are also likely to protect against Covid-19 deaths possibly attributable to air pollution.

The forthcoming revision of EU air quality legislation provides an opportunity to strengthen requirements and thus to better protect health and the environment.

All but two EU member states have failed to show how they will cut air pollution to comply with the National Emission Ceilings Directive, a troubling new report finds.

The annual health benefits of additional measures needed to achieve the 2030 national emissions ceilings are estimated at €12–43 billion, up to 31 times higher than the estimated costs.

Reducing urban air pollution in 31 European countries to below the WHO recommended levels could prevent more than 50,000 deaths per year, and if the cities manage to bring down air pollution in line with the lowest measured levels, over 200,000 annual deaths could be prevented.

Better air quality in Europe has led to a reduction in premature deaths over the past decade, but excessive levels of hazardous tiny particles are still causing more than 400,000 premature deaths every year.

Air pollution costs the average European city resident €1,276 per year, according to the largest study of its kind.

In 2019, emissions of sulphur dioxide from large point sources decreased in all of the top three emitter countries – India, Russia and China. The biggest sulphur emissions hotspot is still the Norilsk smelter in northern Russia.

In its first report on countries’ progress towards EU air pollution goals, the European
Commission said that most member states are at risk of missing their binding emission
reduction targets for both 2020 and 2030.

In 2018, the national emission ceilings for ammonia were still violated by five member states, although total ammonia emissions seem now to have plateaued after five consecutive years of increase.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is calling for all open-loop scrubbers to be converted to closed-loop, and for an eventual ban on the technology.

In 2018, worldwide shipping consumed some 330 million tonnes of fuel oil, resulting in emissions of 1056 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Unless concerted action is taken, these emissions are expected to grow by up to fifty per cent by 2050.