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Europe's road transport needs to shift gears towards sustainability

Growing transport volumes have been driving Europe’s road transport emissions up in the past two decades. A European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis, published today, shows how total greenhouse gas emissions from both passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles have increased in Europe, despite better engine efficiency and use of biofuels.

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Emissions from road traffic and domestic heating behind breaches of EU air quality standards across Europe

Breaches of EU air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide across Europe were predominantly due to road traffic, while domestic heating lay behind the majority of exceedances for particulate matter, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment on air quality plans published today.

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Europe’s urban population remains at risk due to levels of air pollution known to damage health

The vast majority of Europe’s urban population is exposed to levels of air pollutants above new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, according to an updated European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis on air quality in Europe released today.

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EU remains on track to phase-down use of climate-damaging F-gases

The supply and use of climate-warming fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) rose slightly across the European Union and United Kingdom in 2020, according to the latest annual update on the EU’s progress of phasing down the use of F-gases published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today.

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Cleaner air could have saved at least 178,000 lives across the EU in 2019

Air pollution continued to cause a significant burden of premature death and disease in Europe in 2019. A European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis, published today, shows that improving air quality to the levels recently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could prevent more than half of the premature deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter.

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Industrial air pollution in Europe costs society €277 - €433 billion

Emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases from large industrial sites in Europe cost society between €277 and €433 billion, in 2017, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis, published today. About half of the annual cost is caused by just 211 facilities, around 2 % of the largest industrial sites in Europe. The European Green Deal and the Zero pollution action plan are opportunities to improve the situation.

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Air pollution still too high in most EU Member States

Concentrations of key air pollutants remain too high in most European countries. According to the European Environment Agency’s official data, published today, most European Union (EU) Member States exceed at least one or more of the EU’s legal limits for pollutants in ambient air in 2019.

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European Union as a whole stays within air pollutant emission limits in 2019

The European Union (EU) as a whole respected emission ceilings for four key pollutants in 2019, including nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide and ammonia, according to a new European Environment Agency briefing. Nevertheless, Member States still need to make deeper cuts in emissions to achieve 2020-29 and 2030 reduction commitments, especially for nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter and ammonia.

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Sharp decrease in CO2 emissions of new cars in 2020

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12 % decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions also decreased slightly, by about 1.5 %.

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New European city air quality viewer allows you to check long term air pollution levels where you live

Air pollution is a serious problem in many European cities, posing a real risk to health. Today, the European Environment Agency (EEA) launched the European city air quality viewer. You can check how the air quality has been over the past two years in the city where you live and compare it with other cities across Europe.

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Average car emissions kept increasing in 2019, final data show

Average emissions from new passenger cars in Europe increased for the third consecutive year in 2019, reaching 122.3 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g CO2/km), according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) final data. Data about newly registered vans show a stable trend. New EEA data set baseline for emission reductions in heavy-duty vehicles.

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Major drop in EU's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, official data confirms

Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (EU) decreased by almost 4 % in 2019, according to latest official data, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). These data confirm the EEA’s preliminary estimates, published in October 2020. The large decline in emissions, achieved before the COVID-19 crisis, was mainly due to reduced coal use for power generation.

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Schools across Europe share results of their air quality projects

More than 100 schools from 8 European countries participated in the citizen science CleanAir@School inititative, organised by the European European Agency (EEA) and the European Network of the Heads of Environmental Protection Agencies. The results of the initiative, published today, describe how schoolchildren measured pollution levels, learned about air quality and promoted actions for cleaner air.

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National measures to cut air pollution would benefit from stronger links with climate action

European Union (EU) Member States report on their policies and measures to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions separately. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, reveals that Member States identify links to climate action in about one third of their reported actions planned to reduce air pollution.

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Use of climate-warming fluorinated gases continues to drop across EU

Demand for and use of climate-warming fluorinated gases continues to drop across the European Union, according to the latest annual update of EU progress in phasing down the use of F-gases, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Industry is substituting these F-gases with more climate-friendly products.

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Marked improvement in Europe's air quality over past decade, fewer deaths linked to pollution

Better air quality has led to a significant reduction of premature deaths over the past decade in Europe. However, the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest official data show that almost all Europeans still suffer from air pollution, leading to about 400,000 premature deaths across the continent.

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COVID-19 measures have mixed impacts on the environment

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions imposed to fight the spread of the disease have provided some short-term positive impacts on Europe’s environment, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today. These include temporary improvements in air quality, lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower levels of noise pollution. However, the assessment also stresses that there have been negative consequences such as increased use of single-use plastics, and that ways out of the pandemic should focus on reshaping our unsustainable production and consumption systems to achieve long-term environmental benefits.

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Moving towards zero pollution in Europe

What is pollution and how does it affect us and the environment? Europe is taking action to reduce pollution and, as part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission put forward a zero-pollution ambition for Europe. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, looks at the pollution challenge in Europe from different angles as well as opportunities to clean up and prevent pollution.

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Tackling pollution and climate change in Europe will improve health and well-being, especially for the most vulnerable

Air and noise pollution, the impacts of climate change such as heatwaves, and exposure to dangerous chemicals cause ill health in Europe. Poor quality environments contribute to 13 % (one in every eight) of deaths according to a major assessment on health and environment released today by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

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Emissions of most harmful air pollutants dropped in 2018, marking EU progress under UN Convention

Emissions of the five most harmful air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3) reduced across the European Union between 2017 and 2018 according to updated data published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The data is from the annual EU emission inventory report sent to the UNECE Air Convention (Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution - CLRTAP).

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