6 May, 2025
The European Environment Agency’s Air Quality Status Report 2025 indicates that bold action must be taken to ensure long-term improvements to European air quality and their effect on health, according to an ERS expert.
The report shows that more than 250,000 premature deaths could be prevented each year in Europe if air pollution limit values are aligned with the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines.
ERS Environment and Health Committee Chair Dr Ulrike Gehring has highlighted that while reductions have been made to air pollution in recent decades, more needs to be done to clean up Europe’s air.
Up to 92% of the European population is exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) which far exceeds the WHO’s Air Quality Guidelines. Also, 70% of Europeans are also exposed to levels of nitrogen oxide (NO2) which are above WHO recommendations.
The report emphasises the importance of taking bold, decisive action now to reduce the health impact of air pollution, says Dr Gehring.
Dr Gehring said:
“The EEA Air Quality Status Report 2025 stresses the importance of acting now to call for and implement bold policies and structural changes in our cities, transportation, industry, agriculture and energy systems, to ensure long-term reductions in air pollution. Cleaner air will provide immediate health benefits to all European citizens.
“Furthermore, clean air policies have important co-benefits in tackling the unprecedented and irreversible climate change crisis we are facing, which in turn contributes to air pollution by increasing the intensity and frequency of e.g. extreme weather events like wildfires, and desert dust storms and the health effects of air pollution e.g. by heat waves worsening the health effects of air pollution.”
The report comes after the recent publication of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) in the official journal of the European Union (EU), which EU Member States must implement into national law by 2030. The AAQD’s revision followed years of advocacy by the likes of ERS for policymakers and political leaders to take action on air quality.
Dr Gehring continued: “The EU 2030 standards are an important step forward, but to protect the health of EU citizens, we need to be more ambitious and aim for reducing air pollution levels to the WHO Air Quality Guideline values as soon as possible.”
Read the European Environment Agency’s Air Quality Report 2025.
Learn more about ERS advocacy work on Environment and Health.