According to the European Environment Agency and the WHO, more than 630,000 people die as a result of pollution in Europe. And Italy is one of the most exposed countries.
Air pollution remains the most serious environmental health risk for European citizens and causes at least 400,000 premature deaths a year. It is followed by noise pollution, which accounts for more than 12,000 deaths. In addition, in Europe too, people are increasingly dying from the effects of climate change, starting with heatwaves. These dramatic figures are compounded by the loss of years of life caused by pesticides, chemical substances, endocrine disruptors and microplastics widespread in the environment and in groundwater. Italy, hard hit by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, remains in particular one of the countries most exposed to pollution from fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone, alongside Greece, Spain and Slovakia. And it is in our country that the dramatic effects of global warming are increasingly being felt.
This is the far from reassuring picture provided by the latest report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), "Healthy environment, healthy lives: how the environment influences health and well-being in Europe". The report has also been updated to include the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which reaffirms — including on the basis of data provided by the World Health Organization — how poor air quality in Europe is the cause of ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and respiratory infections, as well as neurological disorders, asthma, diabetes and obesity. These diseases, combined with exposure to harmful substances, have weakened our immune systems and have been associated with a heightened vulnerability to Covid-19.
EEA and WHO experts have spoken of a total of more than 630,000 people dying prematurely from environmental causes — starting with the most vulnerable sections of the population. The worst affected are children, who are more exposed and defenceless against air pollution, with more than 211,000 years of life lost annually; but also pregnant women, the elderly and people with underlying conditions. The health of European citizens is also affected by poor socio-economic status, which concentrates the poorest sections of the population in the most polluted areas, while leaving wealthier groups with greater access to green spaces. So much so that EEA Executive Director Hans Bruynininckx explicitly stated — a few days ahead of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — that "strong action is needed to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Poverty often goes hand in hand with living in poor environmental and health conditions."
Now more than ever, an integrated approach towards a more inclusive and sustainable Europe is needed. "Covid-19 has been yet another wake-up call, making us fully aware of the relationship between our ecosystems and our health. The way we live, consume and produce is harmful to the climate and has a negative impact on our health," declared Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
The more than 170 pages of data gathered by the European Environment Agency paint a picture of a two-speed Europe, in which the burden of pollution and climate change varies from country to country, with clear differences between North and South as well as between West and East. The highest share of national deaths attributable to poor environmental conditions in 2012 was recorded in Bosnia-Herzegovina (27 per cent), while the lowest figures (9 per cent) were those of Iceland and Norway.
For this reason too, EEA experts say, a healthy environment is the key mechanism for ensuring public health, reducing disease and promoting economic and social wellbeing — so much so that the European Commission is pressing ahead with its ambitious "zero pollution" plan. Adopting green solutions to improve quality of life, starting with the most congested areas, can represent a triple win for society, health and the environment. Among the measures proposed by the EEA, therefore, is the establishment of adequate, high-quality green spaces in cities, which have become a necessity. Trees, parks and wetlands cool urban areas during heatwaves, absorb the effects of flooding, reduce air and noise pollution, and promote urban biodiversity. These benefits became particularly evident and valuable for citizens' mental health during the pandemic.
In any case, in at least a quarter of European cities — including Glasgow, Madrid, Prague, Stockholm, Turin and Vienna — 98 per cent of the population has access to green spaces within walking distance. Meanwhile, in ten per cent of cities, including in Italy and Romania, more than twenty per cent of the population does not have sufficient green spaces within walking distance. Several European capitals are also making use of "green corridors" to promote flows of clean air. London, for example, has developed the "All London Green Grid" action plan. Ljubljana has done the same through a network of circular corridors linking urban parks with rural spaces. And Barcelona is also developing a series of urban green corridors: strips of high vegetation density accessible only to pedestrians and cyclists.
According to the EEA report, it is estimated that in the United Kingdom alone in 2015, natural vegetation removed 1.4 billion kilograms of air pollutants, saving one billion pounds in healthcare costs. In Strasbourg, France, between 2012 and 2013, 88 tonnes of pollutants were removed from the city, equivalent to seven per cent of PM10 in the atmosphere. By planting vegetation in street canyons, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can be reduced by up to forty per cent and that of fine and ultrafine particulate matter by sixty per cent. Vegetation on buildings (the so-called green walls and roofs) has also been shown to improve air quality.
Research has found that, in the absence of specific measures by local institutions, social deprivation goes hand in hand with environmental deprivation. Similarly, rising house prices in greener residential areas have become an additional factor of discrimination. But there is one city that is setting an example: Berlin.
As far back as 2010, the German capital launched an environmental justice project to examine the links between socio-economic status and health-related environmental conditions. This made it possible to identify neighbourhoods with a poorer quality of life, based on a number of indicators such as noise levels, air pollution, the availability of green spaces, climatic conditions and social circumstances. By correlating these indicators with premature mortality, excess disease and urban structure, the highest-risk neighbourhoods in need of intervention were identified.
A monitoring system that has provided policymakers, urban and environmental planners and the scientific community with a solid evidence base for addressing increasingly shifting environmental conditions and intervening to restore environmental justice for the poorest sections of the population as well — those who risk paying the highest price for the climate, environmental and health crisis.
