Economic cost due to air pollution is one third of Serbia's GDP
The percentage of households that use solid fuels, the average annual concentration of PM 2.5 particles, and mortality from air pollution - these are internationally accepted indicators that both Belgrade and Serbia should monitor, and they do not. The question is why?
Belgrade, December 25, 2020 - Serbia is one of the countries with the highest economic costs due to polluted air and, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) from several years ago, that cost is equal to one-third of Serbia's gross domestic product (GDP). This calculation refers to the costs incurred due to premature deaths due to polluted air. This is the calculation of the WHO from 2015, according to which the annual economic cost of premature deaths due to air pollution in the countries of the European region was close to 1500 billion dollars.
The mentioned data were presented yesterday (December 24, 2020) at the first public consultations on the occasion of the development of the new Air Quality Plan for Belgrade organized by the Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and Environment (RERI) and the Belgrade Open School (BOS), after two months of appeals to the City of Belgrade to initiate a public debate on the adoption of this Plan, which should be valid for the next 10 years. A large number of interested experts from various fields participated in the consultations, and the above-mentioned data were presented by Dr. Elizabet Paunović, a public health expert.
She reminded of the UN Declaration from 2015, which marked the impact of pollution on human life and health as one of the biggest public health problems in the world, and which established very clear indicators that need to be monitored in order to solve this problem. The most important indicators to be monitored in order to reduce pollution and which apply to all countries are: what is the percentage of the population that uses solid fuels in their households, what is the average annual concentration of PM2.5 in relation to the exposed population, and what is the mortality from air pollution.
"These are internationally adopted indicators and they must be used when talking about the efficiency of the future Air Quality Plan for Belgrade. Not only has Serbia committed itself to this with its membership in the UN, but this is also the only correct way to monitor the impact of pollution, from an expert point of view. This is the minimum that must be monitored" said Dr. Paunovic, reminding that the previous Air Quality Plan, which was valid from 2016 until now, does not have these criteria, although the Plan was adopted a year after the adoption of universal indicators worldwide.
Mirko Popović, Program Director of RERI, presented a list of recommendations for improving the public debate on the Air Quality Plan for Belgrade, which includes ten proposals, including: to make a detailed analysis of pollution sources, to determine what the primary sources are and who are the biggest individual polluters, to determine short-term and long-term measures to reduce pollution, with clear deadlines and indications of who is responsible for the implementation of these tasks, to expand the measure of automatic air quality monitoring in Belgrade and others. First of all, RERI requests from the Secretariat for Environmental Protection of the City of Belgrade to submit a report on the realization and achievement of the goals from the Plan that was adopted in 2016.
Mr. Popović said that this list of recommendations is a document open for discussion and announced that, after the New Year's holidays, new consultations will be organized, so that other interested experts can get involved and give their contribution.
"When the City of Belgrade does not want to organize a public debate on the occasion of the adoption of the new Air Quality Plan for the city of Belgrade, and enable the wider professional public to get involved, then we will do it ourselves," said Popović.
Ognjan Pantić, project coordinator at BOS, commented on what kind of role interested public, civil society organizations, media and experts have played in the past few years, in terms of raising awareness and informing Serbian citizens about air pollution and contributing to a better understanding of this problem. He emphasized that the great interest and pressure exerted by these actors together was the trigger for the reactions of the responsible authorities and the progress made so far, but that it was crucial to continue in the same direction and to decisions making process about air protection make available for the public, especially at this time when the focus shifts to finding concrete solutions.
Vladimir Đurđević, from the Faculty of Physics, pointed out that the City of Belgrade must focus on a smaller number of concrete measures that would contribute to improving air quality in the city, and that the state must adopt a National Air Quality Plan because when we have a clear national policy, we will be able to approach solving problems locally. The biggest pollution comes from large industrial plants and thermal power plants, on which cities have almost no authority, concluded Đurđević.
During the discussion, the study "Health impact of polluted ambient air in Serbia - a call to action" was also mentioned, which was prepared by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the WHO, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Institute of Public Health "Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut ”and which refers to the analysis of health consequences due to polluted air in 11 cities in Serbia for the period 2010-2015. According to the assessment of this document, the progressive reduction of the value of PM 2.5 particles in different scenarios (reduction by 5, 10 and 15 micrograms per cubic meter per year) also reduced the number of premature deaths in these 11 cities.
If, for example, in Belgrade, the value of PM 2.5 particles decreased by 5 micrograms per cubic meter, we would have about 400 temporary deaths less per year. If this value were reduced by 10 micrograms, we would save almost a thousand lives a year.
Given that representatives of the Government of Serbia participated in the preparation of this study, it is clear that all competent authorities are familiar with the dramatic estimates of the number of lives that disappear due to increased pollution.
Video of the first public consultation on Air Quality Plan for the city of Belgrade you can watch HERE.
Photo source: Belgrade Open School