Air Quality in the Alps Editor

8th REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE ALPS AIR QUALITY ALPINE CONVENTION ALPINE IN THE ALPS ALPINE SIGNALS – SPECIAL EDITION 8 AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS IN QUALITY AIR EDITOR Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 15 A-6020 Innsbruck Austria Branch office Viale Druso/Drususallee 1 I-39100 Bolzano/Bozen Italy www.alpconv.org www.atlas.alpconv.org [email protected] Translations: INTRALP - Italy Cover Photo: Giorgio Debernardi Cover design: HELIOS - Italy Graphic design: De Poli & Cometto - Italy Climate neutral publication thanks to the contribution of Rete Clima - Italy Printing: Grafiche Antiga - Italy ISBN: 9788897500551 © PERMANENT SECRETARIAT OF THE ALPINE CONVENTION, 2021 8th REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE ALPS AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS ALPINE SIGNALS – SPECIAL EDITION 8 ALPINE CONVENTION | AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS The preparation of the Eighth Report on the state of the Alps was coordinated by the French Presidency of the ad hoc Working Group and the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. The text has been drafted by the members of the ad hoc Working Group, with the support of the French Presidency and the Permanent Secretariat. The Eighth Report on the state of the Alps, in all Alpine languages as well as in English, can be downloaded here: www.alpconv.org. All the maps can be browsed at: www.atlas.alpconv.org COORDINATION OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP PRESIDENCY Éric Vindimian, Michel Pinet (Conseil général de l’environnement et du développement durable, Ministère de la transition écologique, France — General council for Environment and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Ecological Transition, France) PERMANENT SECRETARIAT OF THE ALPINE CONVENTION Aureliano Piva MEMBERS OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP AUSTRIA Andreas Bartel, Siegmund Boehmer (Umweltbundesamt — Environment Agency Austria) Katharina Isepp, Thomas Parizek (Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie — Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology) FRANCE Hubert Holin, François Lamoise (Ministère de la Transition écologique — Ministry of Ecological Transition) GERMANY Bryan Hellack (Umweltbundesamt — Federal Environment Agency) Peter Frei (Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz — Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection) Richard Schlachta (Regierung von Oberbayern — District Government of Upper Bavaria) ITALY Cristina Leonardi (Ministero della transizione ecologica — Ministry of Ecological Transition) Adriana Pietrodangelo (Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche — National Research Council) Giorgio Cattani (Istituto superiore per la protezione e la ricerca ambientale — Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) 5 ALPINE CONVENTION | AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS LIECHTENSTEIN Veronika Wolff (Amt für Umwelt — Office of Environment) MONACO Laure Chevallier, Astrid Claudel-Rusin (Gouvernement Princier, Principauté de Monaco — Government of the Principality of Monaco) SLOVENIA Jože Jurša (Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor — Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning) Rahela Žabkar (Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje — Slovenian Environmental Agency) SWITZERLAND Matthias Rinderknecht (Bundesamt für Verkehr — Office fédéral des Transports — Ufficio federale dei trasporti — Federal Office of Transports) OBSERVERS OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP Geneviève Borodine, Éric Fournier (Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes — Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region) Thierry Billet, Claire Simon (Association Alpine Town of the Year) Špela Berlot, Kristina Glojek, Matej Ogrin (CIPRA) Ursula Schüpbach (ISCAR - International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps) CONSULTANTS OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP Laure Malherbe, Laurence Rouïl, Morgane Salomon e Laurent Létinois (INERIS - Institut national de l’environnement industriel et des risques — French Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks) OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND PERSONS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE REPORT Susanne Lindahl, Viviane André, Andrea Bianchini, Nicola Ostertag (European Commission, Directorate- General for Environment – DG ENV) Panagiota Dilara (Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs - DG GROW) Michael Bittner (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt — German Aerospace Center, Earth Observation Center) Michel Rostagnat (Transport Working group of the Alpine Convention; Ministère de la transition écologique, France — Ministry of Ecological Transition, France) Sylvia Medina (Agence nationale de santé publique, France — National Agency of Public Health, France) Johannes Kiesel (Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege — Bavarian State Ministry for Health and Care) 6 ALPINE CONVENTION | AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS EDITING AND PROOFREADING Aureliano Piva, Nora Leszczynski, Nathalie Morelle, Živa Novljan, Stephanie Wolff, Gabriele Florà, Laura Wittkopp (Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention) FOCAL POINTS OF THE ALPINE CONVENTION AUSTRIA Katharina Zwettler (Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie — Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology) FRANCE Isabelle Paillet (Ministère de la transition écologique — Ministry of Ecological Transition) GERMANY Christian Ernstberger (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit — Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety) ITALY Paolo Angelini (Ministero della transizione ecologica — Ministry of Ecological Transition) LIECHTENSTEIN Heike Summer (Amt für Umwelt — Office of Environment) MONACO Wilfrid Deri (Département des relations extérieures et de la coopération, Principauté de Monaco — Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Principality of Monaco) SLOVENIA Majda Lovrenčič (Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor — Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning) SWITZERLAND Marc Pfister (Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung — Office Fédéral du Développement Territorial — Ufficio Federale dello Sviluppo Territoriale — Federal Office for Spatial Development) EUROPEAN UNION (UE) Andrea Bianchini (European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment – DG ENV) 7 ALPINE CONVENTION | AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS FOREWORDS The concept of “pure Alpine air” recalls the idea of an environment untouched by human intervention. However, this is a simplification: the Alps - and thus the Alpine air - are exposed to meteorological phenomena, to chemical reactions in the atmosphere and to human activities. All these issues do not stop at the national borders and we need to tackle them through transnational cooperation. Moreover, it is important to remember that there is no threshold below which air pollutants do not represent a threat to human health: associating the Alpine arc only with pristine clean air risks underestimating the health risks that Alpine inhabitants are exposed to. It can also hinder the development of sound public policies. All this clearly shows why it was crucial for the Alpine Convention to dedicate its Eighth Report on the State of the Alps to the topic of air quality. As an international treaty between the eight Alpine countries and the EU, bringing together an Alpine-wide network of policymakers, scientists and civil organisations, the Convention has served once more as the most appropriate arena to thoroughly research the current status of Alpine air quality, to identify the main specific sources of air pollutants in the Alpine arc, to showcase what is done at different policy levels and to put forward effective, practical recommendations to improve the quality of air. In a nutshell, the results of the analysis show that the air quality situation is good but can – and should – be improved. Moreover, it shows that challenges and risk factors do exist in the Alps, particularly in some areas and with reference to specific pollutants. Most importantly, the Report demonstrates that it is important to act together and to act now, in order to ensure the health and well- being of Alpine citizens and visitors! I am therefore very grateful to the French Presidency of the Alpine Convention for choosing this topic, as well as to the international ad hoc Working Group that conducted such a detailed, up-to-date and thorough investigation of the situation, which paves the way to more precise and effective solutions at different administrative levels. Alenka Smerkolj Secretary General of the Alpine Convention 8 ALPINE CONVENTION | AIR QUALITY IN THE ALPS People rarely associate the Alps with pollution. Our mountains are often rightly perceived as breathing havens. They are considered to be in contrast with our cities, many of which are affected by pollution, primarily due to vehicles traffic emissions. But can we be assured that they provide pure air? What do we actually know about air pollution in the Alpine valleys? Is there still a need to improve the air in the Alps? What solutions might be available to do so? During the 2019-2020 French presidency, the Alpine Convention addressed these issues in the Eighth Report on the State of the Alps. Specific data were collected, research into pollution mechanisms and their effects on health and nature was carried out, state-of-the-art findings on the state of the Alpine atmosphere were gathered and reported and, most importantly, good practices were identified. The Report confirms that the quality of Alpine air is relatively good. Nevertheless, several Alpine valleys experience an excess of

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