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The Environment Commissioner attended today the meeting of the Technical Committee for the improvement of air quality in Cyprus, whose members are representatives of the Ministries of Labour and Social Insurance, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Health, Interior, Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Transport, Communications and Works, the Cyprus Chamber of Science and Technology, and the Cyprus Federation of Environmental Organisations.
Welcoming the opening of the session, Ms Theodosiou said that "every year, 300,000 Europeans die prematurely due to air pollution, and this figure includes only cases of heart and lung diseases and/or cancers caused by pollution", adding that "air pollution also harms natural ecosystems and the economies of countries".
Ms Theodosiou then referred to the revised framework of rules adopted by the European Parliament on 24 April 2024 which "aims to reduce air pollution in the EU for a healthy environment through new measures to improve air quality so that it does not harm health, natural ecosystems, cultural heritage (monuments, sites etc.More specifically, he said that the "proposed new rules set air quality standards for 2030 that are more in line with the World Health Organisation's recommendations and put us on a path to zero air pollution by 2050."
More specifically, he said that the "proposed new rules set air quality standards for 2030 that are more in line with the World Health Organisation's recommendations and put us on a path to zero air pollution by 2050. To be clearer about what this means, the annual concentration limit for fine particulate matter, which is the main pollutant, should be more than halved."
The Commissioner stressed that although the standards proposed seem ambitious at first sight, they are nevertheless achievable by 2030 as long as our country follows "a clear and dynamic path that will take us to zero pollution by 2050".
He added that the standards will be regularly reviewed based on the latest scientific information and that they provide, among other things, for strengthening provisions on air quality monitoring and modelling to gather long-term data on covered pollutants and other emerging pollutants of concern.
Ms Theodosiou noted as very important that in the new proposed rules citizens whose health has been harmed by air pollution will be able to be compensated if air quality limits are not met, bringing greater clarity on access to justice, adding that specifically on this issue the Environment Commissioner's Office is examining with the Legislative Commissioner the issue of adapting Cyprus' legislation.
The Commissioner said that Cyprus can follow examples of approaches from other countries and that "given the situation and the action required we need to speed up the procedures for implementing the new Directive and not wait for it to be imposed" stressing that "the cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of prevention".
In this context, he said that in order to achieve the targets we need to "move forward with other actions, such as increasing forest cover, reducing the use of pesticides and chemicals, encouraging and strengthening the residential fabric with more green spaces, reducing emissions from all economic sectors, reconfiguring energy consumption with renewable energy sources and reducing the use of fossil fuels".
Ms Theodosiou, concluding her address, said that the Office of the Environment Commissioner, in the context of a holistic and integrated approach and on the basis of the carbon handprint model, will organize two workshops in June, on the topics "Climate Neutral and Green Tourism" and "From local to global protection. Furthermore, he mentioned that, in cooperation with the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative, a conference entitled "Climate Crisis - Responsible Tourism" is being planned during the autumn, a topic that concerns an important sector of our country's economy, which should be included in our planning, especially in environmental and sustainability issues.
(ASP)
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