Vad innebär det nya luftdirektivet för Sveriges kommuner?

Sammanfattning

Air pollution is a global problem that causes major impacts on health and the environment. To protect the environment and health, the European Union has been implementing revised poli-cies on air quality. The revised Ambient Air Quality Directive introduces stricter air quality standards. The aim of this study is to identify Swedish municipalities where the new and exist-ing air quality standards are currently not being met. This is done in order to select municipali-ties for further investigation through interviews, focusing on how they work with air quality and what obstacles may arise in efforts to comply with the EU’s requirements under the di-rective. This study shows that municipalities exceed the new air quality standards for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 micrometres (PM10), with 24 out of 50 munici-palities exceeding the standard. For NO₂ and PM2.5, 6 municipalities and 1 municipality re-spectively exceed the air quality standards, based on data collected from 2022–2023. Air quali-ty efforts in smaller municipalities are more focused on reactive measures linked to their air quality action plans, such as dust control and street cleaning, whereas proactive measures, such as mobility management, are more common in larger municipalities. Obstacles to air quality improvement are multifaceted and include political priorities, public opposition, and climate impacts. To meet the new air quality standards, the fundamental issue must be addressed, municipalities require long-term efforts, including a shift toward reduced car traffic.