A study commissioned by the European Environmental Bureau calculates the potential impact of 10 policies in the energy, agriculture and transport sectors on air quality in Europe.
The EU can meet its air quality targets on time, by 2030, without needing to water down its policies against air pollution. Ten measures for the energy, agriculture and transport sectors alone manage to meet all the targets set in 2024 with the revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) for pollutants NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10 and NH3.
Air pollution, with 10 policies -32.5% CO2 and -24% methane.
This was calculated by a study conducted by Ricardo and commissioned by the European Environment Bureau (EEB). “This research shows that agreed air quality targets can be achieved by 2030, while also benefiting the climate,” says Margherita Tolotto of EEB. “Reducing emissions at source is critical to reducing air pollution concentrations and protecting public health. There is no excuse for delays.”
The study assessed the air pollution reduction potential of 10 measures that EU countries can implement at national level to comply with the new limits imposed by the AAQD.
These are mostly already tested policies and often real cornerstones of the transition, such as accelerating the expansion of renewables, improving energy efficiency, low or zero emissions from traffic. Others are provided for by EU directives such as the farewell to fossil-based heating systems.
Still other measures are less widespread and may have less social acceptability, such as reducing meat consumption and production and a tax on pollutants in the agricultural sector (the latter being by far the most effective measure for cutting methane emissions).
Among the many findings cited in the study, perhaps one of the most important is the cascading effect on health and climate that possible advances on air pollution entail. The study highlights “clear co-benefits”: the implementation of the 10 measures would lead to an estimated 32.5% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 23.9% reduction in methane emissions in the EU. And the economic outlook is promising, with potential benefits outweighing the costs.
