Paris regularly exceeds the maximum levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution set at the European level – recently, this led to a Parisian claiming €21 million in compensation from the French state. How does the city intend to comply with European air quality standards?
It is true that the French state has been condemned in 2021 to a historical penalty for its inaction on air pollution issues in several areas including the Ile-de-France and the territory of Paris.What must be mentioned regarding this situation, which is worrying, is that there are still nearly 20,000 Parisians who are being exposed to nitrogen dioxide concentrations that are higher than the WHO’s recommendations.
But over the longer term, the air quality situation is improving in the Île-de-France region. And in fact, European standards are already respected for fine particles. And nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations are steadily decreasing with a 35% drop in levels near traffic between 2009 and 2019.
So in ten years, there has been a very significant decrease. And for the first time, as we saw in 2019, there are several major roads in Paris such as the Champs-Élysées that now respect the regulatory limit values. And over 2021, nitrogen dioxide levels have continued to decrease.
So the situation is still worrying, there are still many Parisians who are overexposed to nitrogen dioxide, but the situation is getting better.
What are the areas of priority of the French State for action to halt pollution?
As road traffic is the main source of emissions, Paris has been pursuing a policy of reducing the number of cars in the city for 20 years. And our objective, like other cities in Europe, is to reduce emissions at the source, and therefore to reduce traffic. And we have seen a reduction in traffic of about 5% per year in the recent years, which is having a significant impact on pollution at the source.
And then, we have the renewal of the car fleet, which is also one of the major objectives that we are pursuing through the implementation of the low emission zone (LEZ), with the Greater Paris metropolis which is now responsible for it. We are lobbying for the tightening of “Euro” car emission standards, which are the responsibility of the European Commission and the European Parliament, alongside other major European cities through associations like Eurocities.
We have set quite specific objectives in our Climate Air Energy Plan at the Parisian level in terms of improving air quality and the health of Parisians: compliance with European maximum levels by 2024 and compliance with WHO recommendations by 2030.
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