Brussels – Weak coal pollution standards being considered by the EU could result in 71,000 preventable deaths across Europe, due to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, asthma and other illnesses associated with air pollution.
Houses in front of a coal fired power plant in the Rhenish lignite mining region.
These are the findings of a study commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Environmental Bureau [1]. The additional drain on health services and the loss of over 23 million working days would cost taxpayers over €52 billion between 2020 and 2029.
Greenpeace EU energy policy adviser Tara Connolly said: “The human, environmental and economic cost of a sell-out to the coal industry is huge. Children will pay the heaviest price, with hundreds of thousands of avoidable cases of asthma, lung cancer and heart conditions. There is no justification for politicians who refuse to apply existing technology that can bring down deadly coal pollution. Coal causes irreparable damage and it’s high time for the EU to set a pathway to start phasing it out.”
The EU is currently updating its emission standards for large industrial installations, including lignite and coal-fired power plants. The standards are meant to be based on best available techniques, but the current EU proposal is far weaker than standards at existing coal plants in Europe, China and the United States [2].
The study uses official EU data to model the health impacts of proposed EU emission standards, comparing them to the impacts of standards based on best available techniques. The numbers for deaths, illnesses and costs express the difference between the two standards.
The new EU standards would apply from 2020 to 2029 and set limits for toxic air emissions, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and particulate matter. All have significant documented effects on health and the environment.
An EU expert group will meet from 1 to 9 June to finalise the proposed standards. Polluting energy industry representatives have secured seats on national delegations to the expert group, allowing them to play a major part in setting the new standards [3]. The European Commission and member states are expected to vote on the proposal of the expert group by the end of the year before it is officially adopted by the European Commission.
Notes:
[1] Read our media briefing: Toxic coal: counting the health cost of
weak EU air pollution limits.
A report by Mike Holland, commissioned by Greenpeace (May 2015): Health and economic implications of alternative emission limits for coal-fired power plants in the EU .
[2] Greenpeace (March 2015), Smoke and Mirrors – How Europe’s biggest polluters became their own regulators
[3] Ibid.
Contact: Greenpeace EU press desk: +32 (0)2 274 1911, 
For breaking news and comment on EU affairs: www.twitter.com/GreenpeaceEU
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace. Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments, the EU, businesses or political parties.