As EU member states, regional and local authorities prepare to implement the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD), this briefing by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) argues that decision-makers and authorities should pay particular attention to addressing socio-economic inequalities in their clean air efforts. The swift transposition and implementation of the new rules, with strengthened administrative collaboration and the full utilisation of financial support schemes, promise significant progress towards cleaner air across Europe. Improved air quality will be beneficial to everyone and contribute to preventing health inequalities for those living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
HEAL, together with 7 other health and environmental civil society organisations has today sent a letter to Executive Vice-Presidents Timmermans and Dombrovskis, and Commissioner Sinkevičius, to call on them to translate the ambition stated in the very introduction of the Communication on the European Green Deal, namely that “the policy response must be bold and comprehensive and seek to maximise benefits for health, quality of life, resilience and competitiveness”, into concrete clean air steps in the 2020 Work Programme of the European Commission.
Read the full letter here