Ambient air pollution (AAP) is a seriousglobal health problem that accounts for an estimated 4.2million premature deaths worldwide per year. People inEastern Europe and the Western Balkans are frequentlyexposed to air pollution levels above those considered safe,particularly in the winter. The increased exposure to airpollution and its linkage to higher prevalence of lung,respiratory, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)is also likely to increase the vulnerability of the affectedpopulation to the currently emerging COVID19 pandemic. Inthe Western Balkans, the residential sector is the largestsource of harmful PM2.5 emissions. While not yet thedominant source of air pollution in the Western Balkans,transport-based emissions are gaining in prominence and incontrast to heating represent a year-round growingenvironmental challenge. The EU accession process providesan incentive to improve air quality in the Western Balkansby adapting legislation and learning from the experience ofother EU countries. In addition to strengthening the legaland policy framework for air quality management (AQM) at thenational level, it is important to develop subnationalsolutions, particularly for urban pollution hot spots. Byacting on air pollution reduction, countries prepare thegrounds for the long-term transition to a low-carbon economyand climate change mitigation, yet the synergies andtrade-offs have to be carefully evaluated and understood.
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