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SARAJEVO, January 22 (FENA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina has been facing the problem of air pollution for decades, which has negative consequences for the health of the population and the quality of life, environment, but also for the economic prosperity of the country.
Namely, according to the World Health Organization, due to poor air quality, BiH faces 79.8 cases of premature death per 100,000 inhabitants, while also losing 21.5 percent of GDP.
With the air quality index, which in BiH cities often passes into the danger zone (Air Quality Index over 300), our country, also, before fulfilling the conditions for EU accession, needs to improve air quality, but also the air quality management system.
To help BiH solve this very challenging problem, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is implementing a three-year project to combat air pollution worth 3.8 million euros - "IMPAQ".
The implementation of the IMPAQ project started last year and Sarah Barenkov from SEPA's Air Quality Department said that the project consists of several different components and each is in a different phase of implementation.
“So far, together with the European Environmental Agency, we have made the greatest progress in establishing a new reporting system for hydrometeorological institutes from both entities on air quality, then great progress has been made in developing new practices of data collection and air quality control. Then, through communication campaigns, we acted in the direction of informing and educating citizens in order to understand what kind of air they breathe, and in establishing new, improved ways of working of environmental inspection bodies,” said Barenkov.
She pointed out that the measurement of pollutant emissions in six BiH cities required for the preparation of the "Study on the distribution of pollution sources in BiH" is underway, based on which it will be known what are the exact causes of the air pollution and which pollutants emit into the environment.
She added that four new mobile air quality-monitoring stations will be delivered earlier this year, two in each entity, as well as new laboratory equipment.
Our main stakeholders are offices at various levels of government, from state, entity, cantonal, to municipal, as well as government agencies such as hydrometeorological institutes and inspection bodies.
She pointed out that the biggest weaknesses in the system are when it comes to air quality management, access to quality data on air quality and air pollution, which includes displaying data on air quality in real-time, as well as information on sources of pollutant emissions.
She also pointed out that a harmonized air quality management system at the national level is important for our country for several reasons.
“First, it is a key component of the implementation of the Strategy for harmonization of regulations with the acquis communautaire in the field of environmental protection in BiH. If BiH wants to become EU member one day, it must have a system and laws that are harmonized at the national level. Simply put, it is easier for all stakeholders, whether they are policymakers, academic institutions, private companies, journalists or the general public, to understand air quality data when they are harmonized or unified,” she said.
Hydrometeorological institutes in FBiH and RS are working with Swedish counterparts from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) to develop a better system for managing air quality data and emission inventories. However, hydrometeorological institutes in BiH are also working very closely with the Swedish National Reference Laboratory for Air Quality Measurement to develop data quality control and guarantee practices. These practices are now harmonized between the two entities and we are proud of how closely the technical institutions of our countries have cooperated.
(FENA) A. B.
