Clean air is a must for healthy life. LIFE projects across the EU are working hard to support the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive, which sets stringent air quality standards. Improved air quality will protect the environment and public health, and reduce damage to crops and buildings.
19 LIFE projects got together during the recent virtual LIFE Networking Meeting on Achieving Clean Air for European Citizens through the Ambient Air Quality Directive. Participants heard that air quality limits are still frequently exceeded in many European regions, particularly in urban areas. Exposure to key pollutants such as fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide continues to pose significant health risks.
The meeting focused on three main themes: air quality management strategies; effective measures to reduce air pollution; and public access to information and stakeholder engagement. Opening the meeting, Aneta Willems, CINEA’s Head of Department for natural resources, climate, sustainable blue economy and clean energy, noted that despite significant progress, persistent emissions from transport, industry, agriculture and residential heating continue to affect millions of citizens.
DG ENV Policy Officer Guido De Wilt explained at the meeting that, despite noticeable progress in the past decades, air pollution is still the EU’s leading environmental health risk., responsible for around 182 000 premature deaths each year due to fine inhalable particles alone. He stressed the cost-benefit of improving air quality, with returns estimated at four times higher than their costs. Lucia Bernal, also a Policy Officer at DG ENV, emphasised that monitoring and modelling rules have been strengthened and placed at the core of the revised Directive.
LIFE projects were invited to present their work in three pitching sessions. LIFE IP CLEAN AIR, LIFE HUNGAIRY, LIFE PREPAIR, LIFE-IP MALOPOLSKA, LIFE-IP SK AQ Improvement and LIFE MODERn (NEC) focused on air quality management strategies, demonstrating how LIFE projects are contributing effectively to both policy development and the development and implementation of Air Quality Plans and to assessing the impact of air quality measures.
The second session on effective measures to reduce air pollution featured LIFE projects working on road and non-road mobility, freight and logistics, agriculture, industry and the urban environment. LIFE NEEVE, LIFE CLEANAIRMM, LIFE FIT, LIFE ABAA 2021, GREEN CASTING LIFE, LIFE AIR FRESH and AIRUSE were praised as strong examples of scientifically robust, region‑specific LIFE projects delivering transferable solutions.
The final session of Day 1 explored public access to air quality information and stakeholder engagement. Six other LIFE projects showcased their work: LIFE HELP, LIFE-SIRIUS, LIFE V-AIR LIFE CityTRAQ, LIFE EMERALD and LIFE-IP AQP-SILESIAN-SKY showcased their work on developing and using a wide range of innovative communications and engagement tools including a virtual reality game, real-time data viewers and citizen science initiatives.
Day 2 was organised around two working groups. The first looked at the most effective data driven strategies for reducing airborne pollutants, based on inter alia remote sensing, satellite observation and ground-based measurement. The second working group on communication and citizen engagement explored the use of emerging technologies to communicate air pollution alerts; approaches to make air pollution more relatable and inclusive; and methods to involve citizens at every stage of air quality management.
Since 2014, the LIFE Programme has funded more than 100 projects relating to air quality, ranging from the prevention or reduction of industrial emissions to urban mobility, agriculture, residential heating and information campaigns. Together, these projects have mobilised almost €250 million of investment, including €121 million for seven large‑scale integrated projects to help implement regional air quality plans and national air pollution control programmes across Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, of which LIFE Programme contributed €72 million. These large-scale projects helped steer and implement additional investments in air quality of nearly ten billion euros.
