According to a recent report by the European Environment Agency, (EEA) air pollution caused the deaths of 253.000 people in the European Union in 2021.
The EEA report said that “at least 253,000 deaths in the European Union in 2021 can be attributed to particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution above the World Health Organisation’s recommended concentration of 5 µg/m3” in a statement which has alarmed Brussels and the European Commission.
However, the overall trends regarding air pollution remain encouraging, as between 2005 and 2021, the number of premature deaths due to this reason has decreased by 41 per cent.
Despite several “major advances” in improving air quality, the “impact of air pollution on our health remains too high” as Leena Ila-Mononen – the Executive Director of the European Agency – has stated; Ila-Mononen concluded that air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to Europeans’ health. Luckily, the air quality in Athens, although far from perfect, cannot be considered lethal in any way, yet the Greek government has argued that improving air quality – and the broader environmental conditions – both in Athens and beyond is one of its key priorities until 2027.
The Greek “Green Transition” is a pillars of the government’s planning for the four-year period 2023-2027 – but also one of the fundamental electoral commitments of ND’s re-election bid. Indicatively, the government aims – among other things – to ensure that, before the end of the decade, 80 per cent of Greek electricity production will come from Renewable Energy Sources.
Other relevant measures include the energy upgrade of more than 600,000 homes, ensuring that 20% of vehicles on Greek roads will emit zero – or minimal – pollutants by 2027, the construction of at least 45 new state-of-the-art waste management plants by 2025, and the reforestation of at least 165,000 acres by the same year – in a first phase. On a broader level, the Greek government aims to transform Greece into a critical energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, investing significantly in the construction of LNG import facilities and the construction of modern distribution networks to mainland Europe.
