Editorial: Still a long way to go In early May, after five years of negotiation, countries in Europe and North America agreed to take on new emission reduction commitments for the major air pollutants, by adopting a revised Gothenburg Protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution .. Read more
Health effects of black carbon Reducing people’s exposure to PM2.5 containing black carbon should lead to a reduction in the health effects associated with PM. Read more
Air pollution from traffic kills 5000 a year in UK Premature deaths due to PM2.5 are estimated to cost the UK between €7.5-77 billion every year, corresponding to 0.4-3.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Read more
Ozone levels still much too high In the summer of 2011, the threshold for protecting human health from ozone was exceeded on more than 25 days in a significant part of Europe. Read more
Europe’s most polluting power plants Eight of the twelve largest single sources of carbon dioxide in Europe are found in Germany. Read more
The arrival of a new EU sulphur law The sulphur content of ship fuels will be cut to 0.1% from 2015 in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and to 0.5% from 2020 in other EU waters. As a result, emissions of sulphur dioxide from shipping in Europe will come down by more than 80 per cent. Read more
Welcome to the golden age of fracking Fracking, exploitation of gas from shale, is growing fast. This is game-changing both for energy policy and climate policy. There is now more, and dirtier fossil gas around. The resistance is also growing, and fracking is banned in some countries. Read more
Biggest environmental cause of mortality A new OECD report says that by 2050 air pollution will become the biggest cause of premature death, killing an estimated 3.6 million people a year. Read more
New Danish energy agreement A massive expansion of wind power, reforms to promote biomass and an expansion of mandatory energy savings are the main features of the Danish energy agreement. The measures combined are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 34 per cent by 2020. Read more
Improvements from the revison Emission cuts under the new Gothenburg Protocol are expected to reduce health damage in Europe from PM2.5 and ozone by 27 and 11 per cent, respectively, between 2000 and 2020. Read more
New Gothenburg Protocol adopted Between 2005 and 2020 the EU member states must jointly cut their emissions of sulphur dioxide by 59%, nitrogen oxides by 42%, ammonia by 6%, volatile organic compounds by 28% and particles by 22%. Read more
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