The Environment Chronicle

On 17 November 2017, at the Clean Air Forum taking place in Paris the Commission and the EU Environment Agency launched a new Air Quality Index which allows citizens to monitor air quality in real time. The Commission also published an Air Quality Atlas, a tool developed by the Commission's Joint Research Centre that maps the origins of fine particulate matter, such as dust, smoke, soot, pollen and soil particles, in EU cities. The new European Air Quality Index has a user-friendly interactive map that shows the local air quality situation, based on five key pollutants that harm people's health and the environment: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ground-level ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). The Air Quality Atlas provides information on the geographical and sectorial sources of air pollution for the 150 biggest cities in Europe. It shows that pollutant emissions in cities originate mainly different human activities; and that transport, agriculture, industry and residential heating and responsible for the largest part.

The maps show the development of nitrate pollution in rivers. The evaluations are part of the Nitrate Reports 2008, 2012 and 2016 on the EU Nitrates Directive (91/676 / EEC). The 2016 report also includes the development of phosphorus exposure for the first time. In addition to the identification of the trend and the quality class, the information per measuring point can also be queried.

The Urban Water Atlas for Europe shows how different water management choices, as well as other factors such as waste management, climate change and even our food preferences, affect the long-term sustainability of water use in our cities. The Urban Water Atlas for Europe illustrates the role of water in European cities and informs citizens as well as local authorities and experts about good practices and cutting-edge developments that can contribute to ensuring that water is used more efficiently and sustainably, helping to save this valuable resource. It also attempts to change traditional perceptions of water being a free and infinite resource, and to encourage conservation. Detailed factsheets in the Urban Water Atlas for Europe present the state of water management in more than 40 European cities and regions together with a number of overseas examples. The atlas was presented on 27 April 2017 during the meeting of Ministers in charge of water management from the 43 members of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), hosted by the Maltese Government in Valetta. The publication is one of the results of the BlueSCities project, funded by Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme. The Atlas comes with two online tools that can help cities manage water more sustainably. The 'City Blueprint' is an interactive tool to support strategic decision-making by making it easy to access and understand relevant results and expert knowledge. The tool can present up to 25 different aspects of water management to give an overview of a city's strong and weak points, and provides tailor-made options for making urban water services more sustainable. The 'City Amberprint' is a tool for assessing a city's progress towards becoming smart and sustainable.