Air pollution costs 166 billion euros a year in Europe, according to a report released Wednesday, October 21, examining the costs of premature death, care and lost workdays in 432 cities.
This report, produced by the CE Delft firm for the European Alliance for Public Health (EPHA), an NGO platform based in Brussels, looks at 432 cities in the twenty-seven countries of the European Union, the Kingdom of -U, Norway and Switzerland.
It compares the three main air pollutants, particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO?) And ozone (O3) and their social costs, i.e. direct costs. care-related and indirect, such as reduced life expectancy or illnesses such as severe chronic bronchitis.
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London leads the cities with the highest cost (11.4 billion euros), ahead of Bucharest and Berlin.
Paris comes in seventh place, according to the report.
"Our study reveals how toxic air is harmful to health but also how many significant inequalities exist between the different countries of Europe"
, comments the secretary general of EPHA, Sascha Marschang, quoted in a press release from the association. Breathe.
“The situation can be improved by public transport policies and cities can reduce costs by encouraging non-polluting mobility
,
”
he continues.
In Paris, a cost of 1,602 euros per inhabitant
Air pollution in cities is due to several factors: transport, heating of homes, or even industrial or agricultural activities.
While it is difficult to accurately assess the share of each of these sectors, the report looked at transport and estimated that a 1% increase in the number of cars in a city increases social costs by nearly 0.5%.
"We must make efforts for less polluting transport: walking, cycling and electric vehicles"
, asks Olivier Blond, director of the association Respire.
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In France, Paris tops the ranking, with a total annual cost of 3.5 billion euros and 1,602 euros per capita, ahead of Lyon, Nice, Melun and Douai.
The Council of State in July condemned the State to a record penalty for poor air quality.
To remedy this, the government is counting on the creation of “low emission zones” in several towns.
Air pollution is responsible for 48,000 premature deaths per year in France and 480,000 in Europe, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA), figures which could be underestimated.
