European City Ranking
Best practices for clean air

Air pollution causes nearly half a million premature deaths each year in the European Union. In busy cities, air quality is usually at its worst, with high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and ozone. The average life expectancy of people living in the EU’s most polluted areas is reduced by over two years as a consequence of this. A lot can be done at a local level to avoid these emissions.

Air pollution also affects our environment, by causing acidification and eutrophication. Soot, or black carbon, emitted largely by diesel cars, contributes to global warming by reducing the reflection of sunlight when deposited on snow and ice. Under current EU law, local authorities are committed to adopt measures to reduce air pollution and to comply with air quality limit values for several pollutants.

What measures have been designed and implemented in some of Europe’s most polluted cities? With this ranking we aim to answer this question and demonstrate that local solutions to reduce air pollution exist. We identify which cities are best at it, and what others can learn from them.