Zurich first, Luxembourg last in air pollution ranking

Zurich leads the ranking of major European cities with the best clean air this year, while Berlin drops from first to fifth place.

Zurich, Copenhagen and Vienna have emerged as the top three European cities for clean air this year, while Berlin has fallen from first to fifth place.

The ‘Sootfree Cities’ ranking, published by Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), graded the efforts to improve air quality of 23 major European cities. It gave Luxembourg, Lisbon and Rome the bottom three grades. The last survey was conducted in 2011.

Though it is not an industrial powerhouse, Luxembourg suffers from air pollution produced in neighbouring countries, particularly Germany. “Cities can do a lot to improve air quality, but they are left exposed to some pollution they can’t control,” said Louise Duprez, a policy officer for air pollution at the European Environment Bureau (EEB). “This includes pollution which comes from outside the city, like emissions from agriculture or industry.”

The cities were evaluated based on their number of ‘low emission zones’, rules for public procurement, economic incentives to reduce air pollution, transport management and promotion of walking and cycling, among other factors.

The ranking comes as EU politicians debate revising the National Emissions Ceilings directive, which sets caps on air pollution levels for each member state. Last week Julie Girling, a British MEP from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, published a report that largely backs the proposal for revision put forward by the European Commission last year. The Commission had briefly considered scrapping the planned revision, but in the end the legislative process is going ahead.

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