Air quality in Flanders “slightly improved”
The Flemish Environment Agency’s annual report notes an improvement in the region’s air quality, though fine particulates are still a concern, especially in urban areas
Nitrogen dioxide levels remain dangerously high, says Groen
Flemish MP Hermes Sanctorum of the Green party immediately criticised the government’s policy, saying that it was doing too little to improve air quality and that levels of fine particulates and nitrogen dioxide in Flanders remained unacceptably high.
The level of nitrogen dioxide – largely caused by vehicle emissions – remains dangerously high, said Sanctorum, because Flanders was not making enough effort to reduce road traffic. “This government is putting more cars and trucks on the road rather than fewer, which means that the air we breathe is becoming more damaging to our health.”
He also argued that the government of Flanders was following “a deliberate policy of more rather than less air pollution” because of large infrastructure projects that would lead to more traffic such as the widening of the Brussels Ring and the construction of Uplace shopping centre.
On the same day, European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik launched tough new measures to clean up Europe’s air, including a national emission ceiling, arguing that more Europeans die from bad air quality than in road accidents. He estimated that the direct cost of air pollution was about €23 billion annually and that implementation of the EU’s pollution reduction plan would cost just one-twelfth of the amount that would be saved through improved health.
