Suddenly, the air in Paris was the cleanest on record for forty years: the inhabitants of Milan saw the Alps very close, the Berliners were able to breathe at the full lungs even in the districts where the exhaust pipes spit out the most. of particles.
A year ago, confinement was decreed in France.
At substantially the same time, other large European cities introduced similar restrictions on the movement of populations, with the collateral effect of lower pollution.
The reduction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) due to road traffic fell by 16% in Budapest and up to 76% in Paris, the biggest drop!
“Since then, traffic has resumed, as has pollution,” notes Jens Müller, coordinator of air quality issues within the Transport and Environment (T&E) association.
However, these very low levels of pollution should not remain exceptional.
And this is not science fiction, the solutions exist!
His association worked on a report to find the quality of the air of confinement, without confinement, in Budapest, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid and Paris.
Act fast
“It is time to act to improve our air, especially for the most fragile, children and fetuses.
Particles in the air increase the risk of prematurity, low birth weight and chronic bronchopulmonary diseases, recalls Jocelyne Just, pneumo-allergist, head of department at Trousseau hospital in Paris.
The background pollution, the one we breathe in cities on a daily basis, affects people with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, but also disturbs healthy subjects.
"
Worse, fine particles increase the risk of cancer, autoimmune diseases or neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Not to mention that residents of areas where the air is loaded with fine particles were probably more at risk of developing severe forms of Covid.
"In fact, you add an irritant to an irritant", schematizes the specialist.
VIDEO. Air pollution: the before / after of the impact of confinement in the big cities of France
The T&E association pleads in favor of rapid action: that the very large sums of money provided for by the European recovery plan (750 billion euros in the form of loans and subsidies) serve to make the air cleaner .
"These investments should not be used to reproduce the mistakes of the past", insists Jens Müller.
Towards all-electric
“Of course, air pollution in cities is not going to drop overnight,” Jens Müller recalls.
We are not proposing to halve the number of individual cars, that would be unrealistic.
"But gradually replacing - by 2035 - the diesels and gasoline which spit out the most NO2 by" zero emission "vehicles (for the moment electric, soon to be hydrogen) is frankly effective.
T&E thus calculates that if 42% of the kilometers traveled in the streets of Budapest were by electric vehicle, the Hungarian capital could dance the mazurka under the same air as during confinement.
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Like Brussels, Berlin or London, Budapest could be “content” with switching to zero-emission vehicles to regain the low pollution levels of last year.
Good news, the European market seems to be taking the path: last year, “connected” cars represented 10.5% of the European market, against 3% the previous year.
And for the first time, the EU has overtaken China in terms of sales of electric vehicles.
Travel less
Madrid and Paris, on the other hand, should move up a gear.
In addition to reducing the proportion of kilometers driven in gasoline-powered vehicles, residents of these two capitals should avoid taking their cars.
For the City of Light, the T&E association calculates that 67% of journeys should go electric.
“Of course, it will take several years.
But it could go much faster, if we start with taxis or trucks that run a lot more, ”suggests Jens Müller.
In the heavy goods vehicle category, seven manufacturers have just made a commitment to no longer sell a single fossil fuel truck from 2040.
“In Paris, 10% of car trips should also be avoided.
Nothing unrealistic.
In Austria, Vienna has already done it, ”insists Jens Müller.
And in order not to take your car…, not to move may be an option.
After confinement, 37% of jobs were considered compatible with teleworking.
Public transport, bicycles and walking have an immediate impact on reducing air pollution.
The Belgian city of Ghent has thus reduced its NO2 emissions in residential areas by around a quarter by introducing more car-free zones.
