On 14 February 2023, the European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting petrol and diesel cars from 2035, progressing the EU’s “Fit for 55” package and the transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Urban areas in all Around the world The European Union and the United Kingdom are also increasingly introducing measures to reduce road traffic and create “green zones” in city centres. However, these measures have not yet succeeded in reducing harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions from fossil fuel-burning vehicles to the levels recommended in World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
The latest briefing from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals the consequences of not aligning emissions regulations with the World Health Organization’s Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) on the health of urban populations.
Road transport was the largest source of NOx emissions (37%) in the EU in 2020, followed by agriculture (19%) and manufacturing and extractive industries (15%). The sector accounted for 28% of all UK NOx emissions in 2020, while other forms of transport, including aviation, rail and freight, accounted for just 13%. The public health impact of road transport emissions is therefore greater because most of them occur in urban areas where population density is high, resulting in high levels of human exposure. Currently, the European Union and the United Kingdom are the only jurisdictions that have responded to the updated WHO guidelines by announcing some sort of explicit policy action. However, our research has found that across UK and EU capital cities, while emissions from transport have declined, NO2 concentrations still exceed updated WHO guidelines, and annual average NO2 concentrations exceed the value WHO guidelines in all 27 EU capitals and the UK in 2022.
According to updated WHO recommendations, nitrogen dioxide levels should not exceed an average of 25 µg/m3 for 24 hours and 10 µg/m3 for a year. However, these changes have not been updated and are not reflected in the Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directive (2008/50/EC) of the European Union, or in the UK’s national air quality targets. The guideline value for annual average NO2 concentrations in the EU and UK is 40 µg/m3, while the WHO health guideline value is four times lower (10 µg/m3).
The briefing found that the lack of alignment of regulations with the WHO Global Quality Aggregate 2021 translates into more than 250,000 NO2-related deaths and 70,000 cases of childhood asthma that could be avoided if the EU and UK achieve the WHO Global Quality Aggregate 2021.
Policy recommendations
In light of the seriousness of the impacts on the health of resident populations exposed to NO2 concentrations exceeding the 2021 WHO maximum permissible limit, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) proposes the following policy recommendations:
The European Commission is following up on its commitment to adhere to the WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) when reviewing the Ambient Air Quality Directive; The EU is introducing stronger emissions standards for stationary sources through a revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED); The UK is following suit in reviewing current air quality policies; Setting more ambitious targets for the uptake of electric cars and alternative fuels; Expanding the network of electric charging stations to cover all European roads; Currently, 70% of charging stations are located in just three countries; Implement the upcoming Euro 7 emission standards as soon as possible, and reflect criticisms of metering and leniency, especially regarding NOx emissions from diesel cars; Air quality standards need to be more stringent to reflect that more than 200,000 Europeans per year could be saved from NO2-related deaths by aligning European standards with the 2021 WHO Ambient Air Quality Guidelines.
