The Eco-consciousness Association requires much intensified efforts and continuous work to find systemically sustainable solutions, which will reduce air pollution in Skopje, and thus the risks to the health of its inhabitants.
Eco-consciousness says that many of the short-term measures and recommendations, as well as their effect, depend on how much the recommendations will be accepted by industries and companies.
The current list of short-term measures was adopted in November 2017 and has been used for four years, and so far has been shown to have a very limited effect. “This means that it should be revised and new stricter short-term measures should be introduced, in conditions when the air is extremely polluted,” said Eco-consciousness.
They add that in the medium and long term, the traffic and urbanism in Skopje and in the whole country should be completely revised. Investments in energy efficiency should increase many times over, to strengthen the control of industrial facilities, but also to start with the realization of decentralized heating systems for renewable sources.
At the same time, Eco-consciousness appeals and calls on the competent institutions to reactivate the inter-sectoral working group for ambient air that worked under the auspices of the Deputy Minister of Environment and Physical Planning. The situation with the polluted air in Skopje and the country will be seriously addressed in the long run with the launch of the long-awaited Environment Fund, which the authorities should establish as soon as possible as an independent financial mechanism.
Data from the measuring stations for air quality of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning show that on December 28, the average daily limit values for PM 10 particles were exceeded at all measuring stations in Skopje, with at least 60.95 μg measured in Karposh. cubic meter, while in Lisice the most – 115 μg /m3.
