New EU infringement actions on air pollution

In its October infringements package, the European Commission announced that it will file a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the French government over its systematic failure to meet EU air quality standards for particulate matter (PM10).

Letters of formal notice were sent to Croatia and Italy for breaching the limit values for particulate matter (PM10 and/or PM2.5) in several areas, and the measures taken to lower air pollution are insufficient to keep exceedance periods as short as possible.

Reasoned opinions were sent to Greece and Romania, as they have still failed to adopt National Air Pollution Control Plans, which according to the deadline set in the NEC Directive should have been submitted by 1 April 2019.

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_20_1687

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Editorial

The clock is ticking to achieve the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. To be clear right from the start: this goal deserves every effort that mankind can pull off. In the name of realism, this is the goal we must focus on now, given the current level of progress in reducing greenhouse gases. However, damage to marine ecosystems will not be avoided even if we reach this goal1. In fact, damage already occurs at current levels of warming, as evidenced by the bleaching of coral reefs2. This may be an inconvenient truth when our current goal is 1.5°C.

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