[Index]
NEW AIR POLLUTION PROTOCOL
TO TAKE EFFECT ON 17 MAY 2005
Geneva, 1 March 2005 - Portugal
is the 16th country to ratify the Protocol
to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication
and Ground-level Ozone, which will, consequently,
enter into force on 17 May 2005.
The Protocol was originally
adopted on 30 November 1999 in Gothenburg
(Sweden) and signed by 31 countries. It
is the eighth to take effect under the
Convention on Long-range Transboundary
Air Pollution of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE).
The Gothenburg Protocol
is a major step forward in the development
of international pollution controls. It
aims at controlling several pollutants
and their effects through a single agreement.
The Protocol sets new targets for emission
cuts by 2010 for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides and volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). It also sets, for the first time,
targets for ammonia controls. Countries
whose emissions have the most severe health
or environmental impact and whose emissions
are the cheapest to reduce will have to
make the biggest cuts.
The Protocol also sets
limit values for specific emission sources
(e.g. combustion plant, electricity production,
dry cleaning, cars and lorries) and requires
best available techniques to be used to
keep emissions down. VOC emissions from
such products as paints or aerosols will
also have to be cut. Finally, farmers
will have to control ammonia emissions
(manure, artificial fertilizer).
The stricter measures
for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
will help stop acidification and the effects
of excess nitrogen (eutrophication). By
bringing sulphur emissions down further,
the Protocol will protect many more thousands
of square kilometres from “acid
rain”. For eutrophication, too,
the Protocol will bring about marked improvements.
There are currently large areas of Europe
receiving excess nitrogen deposition and
worldwide this is a problem of increasing
concern.
Cuts in VOC and nitrogen
oxide emissions will decrease concentrations
of ground-level ozone and the damage they
cause to crops, natural vegetation and
human health (see below). Ground-level
ozone damages lung function, particularly
in children and asthmatics. Ozone also
causes leaf injury in plants, including
crops and trees, and causes mainly organic
materials like paint or rubber to disintegrate.
Figure. The number of days with ozone
above 60 ppb (a threshold set for human
health effects) in 1990 (left) and in
2010 for the emissions agreed in the
Gothenburg Protocol (right)
Source: International Institute
for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
The 16 Parties to the Protocol, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, the United States and the European
Community, will hold their first meeting
in December 2005 in Geneva. Here they
are likely to start work on a review of
the Protocol to see if it needs updating.
For further information, please contact:
Keith BULL
Environment and Human Settlements
Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations, office 346
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 23 54
Fax: +41(0)22 917 06 21
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/
Ref. ECE/ENV/05/P02