Legambiente presented the Clean air for Rome 2023 report
In Rome the new European limits were exceeded in all 13 control units for annual average of PM10, PM2.5 and NO2. In Piazza del Campidoglio, Legambiente presented the Rome Clean Air Report for Rome 2023 on the occasion of the European Mobility Week.
In the Report, the environmentalist association returns to take stock of the necessary projects and political choices for the redevelopment of air quality in the Capital: new trams, extensions of the Metro, electrification of the surface bus fleet, structural interventions on the railway network, new stations, closure of the railway ring, sharing mobility, new Green Belt towards the Congestion Charghe of the entire centre, creation of Grab and cycle paths on every road artery.
“Our city will be able to change for the better only if sustainable mobility is a total priority – declares Amedeo Trolese of Legambiente Lazio who oversaw the preparation of the report – taking away space from the physical and cultural domination of private cars in travel, and restoring the city to people. We need the modernity of many new tram lines, even more than those foreseen with the Pnrr funds, the extensions of all the metros as has been expected for decades, powerful investments on the entire collective TPL, expansion of the implementation surface of sharing mobility, protection of cycle routes currently only drawn on the ground, many new cycle paths. And then, as has been the case for most cities in Europe and beyond, where today only a small percentage of trips are made by private car but where, even until a few years ago, the dominance of cars was total and entirely similar to what still persists in Rome, to start a great mobility education process involving schools, offices, mobility managers, mobility stakeholders, to return to breathing clean air in the Capital”.
TOWARDS THE NEW EU LIMITS
News of the last few hours arrive precisely on air quality, Legambiente recalled, “following the crucial vote with which last week the European Parliament started the process of a major strengthening of the air pollution directive, upon proposal by the European Commission. The objectives to be achieved for pollution values are in line with what the WHO has been asking us to achieve since last year and are much more stringent: PM2.5 will have an annual threshold halved to 5 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air ) and a 24-hour limit that drops from 25 to 15 μg/m3; PM10 will have an annual limit that goes from 20 to 15 μg/m3; and NO2 will have an annual concentration limit that drops to 10 μg/m3 and 25 μg/m3 as a daily limit; the deadline to achieve all objectives is September 2035.”
“In the capital, air quality can be improved with collective public transport, sharing mobility, cycling and a drastic reduction in car use – comments Roberto Scacchi, president of Legambiente Lazio – The new European directive goes in the right direction, implements the WHO indications and provides for a drastic reduction in air pollution; in Rome we need to work quickly so that the objectives are achieved by implementing all the projects that have been awaited for decades, so we avoid the city continuing to be among the places responsible for European infringement procedures on air quality but above all for better quality of life. If we compare the data of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide today, all 13 Roman Arpa control units far exceed the new limits, just as the overall average annual figure is beyond the limits; an evidently emergency situation against which to oppose sustainable mobility policies, starting from the planned Green Belt, the Congestion Charge and all the tramways that can be built with Pnrr funds”.
Source-www.adnkronos.com