Don't Breathe Here

In-house analysis by Transport & Environment Published by Transport & Environment For more information, contact: François Cuenot Policy Officer Transport & Environment francois@transportenvironment.org Tel: +32(0)2 851 02 28/ +32(0)49134 46 70 Acknowledgements Responsibility for the content of the report is solely that of T&E. T&E wishes to thank Malcolm Fergusson, Iddo Riemersma and Stefan Hausberger who have provided technical reports that supported some of the analysis presented in this report. 2 Executive Summary Urban air in much of Europe is not fit to breathe, and vehicles, especially diesel cars, are the principal cause. High levels of particles, nitrogen oxides and unburned fuel create a cocktail of harmful pollution that is breathed by almost every urban European citizen. The effects are half a million premature deaths each year; a quarter of a million hospital admissions; and 100 million lost working days cumulatively costing over€900 billion. The crisis is taking place despite extensive EU laws that limit ambient air-pollution levels, total national emissions, and emissions from major sources including vehicles. The Commission has acted against 18 EU member states for breaching pollution levels but progress to tackle the problem is glacial.