Serbia's air quality below EU standards

Serbia's air quality below EU standards

The issue of air pollution is now being addressed and the measures recently taken to accurately track air pollution represent the first step in the right direction.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in regards to the control of hazardous gases, Serbia is behind by at least a decade and a half, compared to the status of air control in more developed European countries.

The EU is urging change as it regularly upgrades its criteria for the emission of hazardous gases. The ultimate goal, agreed on at November's UN convention on climate change, is to enable nature to regain its balance, as in the pre-industrial times.

The EU constantly increases its standards, making them stricter. Although lately Serbia has been done more to meet the EU standards, Serbia must speed up the pace.

Air quality in Serbia is recorded at more than 60 sites, but most of them record only a daily average of certain parameters, which does not achieve the measurement accuracy that exists in the EU.

Serbia has just begun to introduce automatic measuring units that display air quality at any time and enable intervention. There are three such units in Belgrade, four in Pančevo, two in Bor and one in Zrenjanin.

A turn towards ecology and environmental protection can open new economic possibilities for Serbia.

For the time being, according to the UN convention on climate changes, Serbia as a non-EU state has no obligation to reduce the emission of its hazardous gases.

Drawing from foreign funds, especially the funds of the European Agency for Reconstruction, Serbia should introduce an automatic recording of air quality on a national level this year.

Such recording will give a more accurate reading of air quality. For now, the available data shows that the air is not significantly different from the European average.

The bill on Air Quality Protection has made its way to the Parliament and now awaits a vote.