The Brabant Environmental Consortium believes that the province of Brabant should pay more attention to clean air. This was stated in a letter co-signed with ANWB, Longfonds, Natuurmonumenten, Brabants Landschap and a number of other organisations. The health of the people of Brabant is on the agenda of the county council on Friday. “Polluted air is a health hazard,” says Vimke Dingmans of BMF.
The county introduced its health policy framework in May. It is a plan to put the health of the people of Brabant at the center of the policy of the provincial government. It shall provide every citizen of Brabant with three more years of healthy life. According to Femke Dingemans of the Brabant Environmental Consortium, the piece is full of “beautiful scenery”, but it may be a little more solid on a number of points.
Problem
Air pollution is a problem in the Netherlands. Experts assume that polluted air costs every Dutchman a year of his or her life. The Health Policy Framework states that Brabant is performing “lower quality” in this region compared to other provinces. The east of the province in particular suffers from fine particulate matter and nitrogen, as a result of intensive livestock farming. RIVM is investigating whether Brabant particulate matter is also experiencing aura more quickly.
According to the Brabant Environmental Consortium, the province must adopt the standards presented by the World Health Organization on September 22. These are stricter than the numbers previously used by the World Health Organization. The nitrogen dioxide standard has been reduced by 75 percent, which has been reduced by a quarter or half for different types of particulate matter. “Something has to be done,” Vimek Dengemans says. “Then you have to set concrete goals.”
clean air
Last year, Brabant was one of the signatories to the Clean Air Agreement. According to Minister van Veldhoven, the air everywhere in the Netherlands should be as clean as it is now in the Wadden Islands. In October, the House of Representatives passed a motion stating that new WHO standards should be included in the Clean Air Agreement. Foreign Secretary Stephen Van Weinberg has promised to implement the proposal.
The BMF also advocates that Brabant use “safe distance standards” between homes and livestock farms or compost plants. This is an important note in light of the discussion in Brabant about the locations of compost treatment formulations. According to the letter, Brabant also needs more green space and it is important that more be done in terms of “clean mobility”.
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