The costs of industrial pollution in Europe amount to 2% of the European Union’s (EU) GDP, despite a downward trend over the past ten years, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) published this Thursday, January 25.
“EAE analysis shows that the costs relating to air pollution caused by the largest industrial installations in Europe (…) are on average between 268 and 428 billion euros per year,” indicated in a press release from the Copenhagen-based agency. In 2021, these costs corresponded to around 2% of EU GDP, according to the EEA.
Thanks to the adoption of the best available techniques in the field of energy, the transition to renewable energies and less polluting fuels, “the environmental and health costs of European industry have decreased by a third (-33% ) between 2012 and 2021,” according to the report. In 2021, only 1% of the 9,400 installations analyzed were responsible for half of the damage.
Among the 50 most polluting installations, almost half are thermal power plants. Nine of them are located in Germany and six in Poland. With these two countries, Italy, France and Spain constitute the top 5 Member States where pollution causes the highest costs.