About twenty organizations has sent a letter to the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, asking her that the new air quality directive again sets 2030 as the deadline. The entities have demanded that he promote this change from the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. With 300,000 deaths a year in Europe Due to the poor quality of the air we breathe, this issue must be a “priority.”
Among the signatories of the letter, entities such as Salud por Derecho, the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), the One Health Platform or the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (SESPAS). Associations that contextualize: a few weeks ago, the European Parliament approved the new directive European air quality.
The text to which the Plenary gave the green light includes a large part of the requests that European and Spanish civil society has been making to address air pollution. Initially, they detail, the deadline to implement the measures included in the document was set at 2030, as proposed by the European Comissionbut in the last hours of the negotiation before the vote The term was extended five more years, until 2035.
Health defense
Now, after the procedure in Parliament, it is time for the text to be negotiated between the three European institutions – the Commission, Parliament and the Council – for its final approval. In this context, this Monday the European Environment Councilattended by EU ministers, and 19 social, health defense and environmental organizations They ask Teresa Ribera that, from the Spanish Presidency, work is done so that the new regulations “do not lose ambition and the date of 2030 is reintroduced, as as stated in the initial proposal of the European Commission”.
“Each year of delay contributes to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths from diseases such as dementia, cancer, asthma, COPD, stroke and other cardiovascular problems,” the signatory entities point out.
In the letter sent to the ministerthe organizations insist on the importance of “meeting the objectives in 2030” and remember that “each year of delay contributes to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths from diseases such as dementiacancer, asthma, COPD, stroke and other cardiovascular problems.” One of the issues that most worries the entities is that during this period of negotiations there may be other changes that relax the measures contemplated in the text. Therefore, they ask Minister Teresa Ribera “that the implementation be agreed of the new directive avoiding any type of flexibility or added laxity that postpones or reduces compliance with the norm”.
premature death
Likewise, they demand that its approval should be carried out “urgently”, before the European elections in June next year, to prevent “the premature death of hundreds of thousands of people and to protect the most vulnerable groups such as boys and girls, pregnant women, elderly people or chronic patients what do you need cleaner and healthier air.
The text approved by the European Parliament includes air pollution limits aligned with the most recent scientific studies
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The text approved by the European Parliament includes air pollution limits aligned with the most recent scientific studies and with the WHO recommendations updated in 2021, which will be mandatory for all Member States; greater protection for children and other vulnerable populations; as well as better access to information on air quality by citizens.
However, the organizations assure that these advances will not be possible if “plans at the different levels of the Administration” are not implemented with the necessary changes to reduce levels of environmental pollution. Finally, they emphasize that, with 300,000 deaths a year in Europe due to the poor quality of the air we breathethis issue must be a “priority” and that this new directive is “one of the most important opportunities to improve the health and well-being of the people who live in Europe, but it will also contribute to curbing climate change and ensuring the sustainability of urban spaces”.