Opening the EU Clean Air Forum, Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, said:

Delivering on the Green Deal and our zero-pollution ambition means delivering on clean air. The benefits of this go much beyond the environment: clean air means healthier people, more social justice and a more efficient economy. And air pollution acts as an accelerator of existing social inequalities, so the green transition needs to happen, and needs to happen now. Clean air is not just a challenge. It’s a win-win opportunity for all of us.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, said:

The air we breathe has become a good deal cleaner over the past decades. But air pollution still affects the health of millions across the EU, and we need to do more to ensure all can breathe clean air. This means improving our legislation, and improving how we implement it. The fourth EU Clean Air Forum offers an opportunity to discuss what and how.

The Fourth EU Clean Air Forum addressed seven topics in more detail; namely:

1. the links between clean air, climate and social inequality;
2. clean air and spatial planning;
3. maritime transport and air pollution;
4. multimodal transport and spatial planning for clean air;
5. skills and jobs for clean air;
6. the revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives; and
7. spreading knowledge for cleaner air.

At the Forum, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission launched a major update of the ‘European Air Quality Index’ app. The revamped app is available in 24 languages and includes information about air quality as well as health recommendations everywhere in the EU. Using the app, citizens can easily find information on air quality and its impacts where they live, work or travel.

The EEA also published an updated assessment of air quality and its impacts on human health: Harm to human health from air pollution in Europe: burden of disease 2023.

Ahead of the Forum, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre released the 2023 edition of the Urban PM2.5 Atlas. The Atlas pinpoints the sources of air pollution, such as fine particulate matter, by sector for 150 cities in the EU. The data will help cities to design air quality plans, ensuring that measures are targeted at the highest polluting activities. This underlines the importance and urgency of taking both city-specific measures and European level policy action. 

The outcomes of the discussions at the Forum will inform the ongoing negotiations between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the revision of EU rules on ambient air quality. The Commission proposal aims to align EU air quality standards more closely with the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

More information:

• Fourth EU Clean Air Forum (2023) website
• Recordings
• Webpage on the Revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives 
• JRC Urban PM2.5 Atlas  
• Model used for the Urban PM2.5 Atlas 
• Updated European Air Quality app in Android Play Store and for Apple iOS  
• Euronews episode - The long road towards better air quality in the EU