The toll of fossil fuel air pollution: a case for clean transportation
On 14 February 2023, the European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel CO2-emitting cars as of 2035, making headway in the EU’s “Fit for 55” package and the transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Urban areas across the EU and the UK are also increasingly establishing measures to reduce road traffic and create “green zones” in city centres. These measures, however, to date, have not succeeded in reducing the harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions produced by fossil fuel burning vehicles to levels recommended by the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). This latest briefing from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals the consequences of not aligning emissions regulations with the WHO Global air quality guidelines (AQG) on the health of populations in urban areas.
