15 September 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Cork City has achieved an impressive milestone, ranking as the 15th cleanest city in Europe and the top city in Ireland for air quality, according to the latest report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
This remarkable achievement positions Cork ahead of many other similar sized European cities. The cleanest air from 372 European cities was in Uppsala in Sweden.
Cork City recorded a level of 5.2 μg/m³, slightly above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³.
Numerous air quality assessments and reports have outlined the detrimental health effects of particulate matter in the air we breathe. In Ireland, PM2.5 primarily originates from solid fuel burning and, to a lesser extent, road traffic.
This European city comparison is a positive outcome from the suite of air quality commitments and actions that have been undertaken in Cork over the past number of years. Measures such as the delivery of Cork City’s Air Quality Strategy and the associated actions such as the creation of a Clean Air Zone, work on numerous citizen science and air quality outreach projects as well as Cork playing host to Clean Air Day.
Pictured at the official opening of Ireland’s first ever Clean Air Day event at Cork City Hall on September 7th, organised by Cork City Council. The day’s activities included discussions and workshops, the City Hall was illuminated with messages promoting clean air, and Robin Bateman, Windsurfer, performed on the river for the public.
Picture: Alison Miles / OSM PHOTO
Lord Mayor, Cllr. Dan Boyle said: “It is encouraging that the efforts of Cork City Council to create better public awareness of the need to protect air quality, have begun to bear fruit. Cork compares well with similar sized European cities. There is, however, little room for complacency as there are times of the year when pollution risks are too high and must be reduced. Our goal is to bring air quality in the city to comply with the WHO standards”.
While the results from the European Air Quality Report are encouraging, it also serves as a reminder that there is still a body of work to be done in meeting the more stringent WHO limits for air quality. Cork City Council is committed to improving and expanding public and active travel, retrofitting its buildings and its housing stock and in promoting all available grant funding schemes for home energy upgrades. For further information, see www.gov.ie/cleanair