Stronger air pollution laws could save 37,000 lives a year in EU

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution and household air pollution is associated with seven million premature deaths annually, with around 1,500 deaths in Ireland annually attributed to air pollution. Picture: Padraig Hoare

Up to 37,000 lives and €103bn in taxpayer money could be saved every year across Europe if the EU tightened rules around air quality and industry emissions, a new report has found.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said the EU has allowed its industrial pollution rules to be "eroded through the adoption of weak standards, loopholes, and a permitting culture that only enforces the most lenient limits" when it comes to emissions from the sector.

CREA's study looked at emissions of particulate matter and other pollutants from the likes of thermal power, cement, oil and gas, iron and steel, and paper and pulp. Particulate matter is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.

CREA said that its study found that thermal power — burning fossil fuels such as oil or liquid natural gas to convert into electricity — is the highest emitter of nitrogen oxides, a major contributor to smog, as well as mercury. 

Oil and gas refining is the largest emitter of sulfur dioxide, followed by thermal power and iron and steel. Iron and steel is the largest emitter of particulate matter, with thermal power and pulp and paper the second- and third-largest emitters, CREA said.

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Agriculture is by far the largest ammonia emitting sector, it added.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution and household air pollution is associated with seven million premature deaths annually, with around 1,500 deaths in Ireland annually attributed to air pollution.

CREA said that the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive, which is the regulator for pollutant emissions from industrial installations, is far behind best international practices when it comes to capping industrial emissions.

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The directive allows too many loopholes and leeway for industries and is beholden to lobbyists, CREA said.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Europe's largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations, called for standards to be upped when it comes to air quality and industrial emissions.

Head of Zero Pollution Industry at the EEB, Christian Schaible, said: "It is imperative to change the culture that rewards polluters. Member states need to change their consistent alignment to most lenient pollution reduction obligations, especially when they transpose EU standards into national rules. 

"The case for huge public benefits of avoided air pollution thanks to strict limits is crystal clear, we cannot afford to lose further time for polluters to escape their responsibilities. We would expect members of the European Parliament to not fall behind in the ambition to serve people’s interests first.”