September 7th is International Clean Air Day for Blue Skies (International Day of Clean Air for blue skies), wishing to draw attention to the need to limit the amount of pollutant emissions released into the air and ensure adequate protection of human health. Clean air is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Environment, therefore systematic steps are needed to further increase it.

Significant progress has been made in reducing emissions over the last 30 years. Large-scale investments in the energy, industrial and transport sectors play a major role in this regard. Replacing old solid fuel boilers in households with more environmentally friendly heating sources also makes a significant contribution. Despite all these measures, air quality in parts of the Czech Republic is still not at the required level, which increases public health risks. According to the Ministry’s strategic document, one of the most important challenges is mainly the further reduction of emissions from local heating installations.

A purely practical step is that with the start of the heating season, we have launched a new information website for households, which will advise how to properly heat with solid fuels and save.

In addition to the measures implemented directly in the Czech Republic, there is also a need for more intensive and effective cooperation within the international community, because air pollution knows no boundaries and spreads throughout the northern hemisphere. Therefore, within the framework of the EU Czech presidency, the MoE is preparing an international conference on the topic of clean air and future challenges that need to be addressed to further enhance it (Future challenges in air protection in Europe).

The conference is being organized by the MoE on 24 November 2022 in Prague in collaboration with the European Commission through the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Tool (TAIEX) and will bring together experts involved in the air protection process from across Europe and Central Asia, i.e. the countries that are targeted UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Another important topic of the conference is the future of the European legislative framework for air protection, which is currently being completely revised in line with the goals of the Green Deal for Europe.

One of the aims of this revision is to respond to the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), which in 2021 significantly tighten the recommended values ​​for outdoor air pollutant concentrations that can be considered safe from the point of view of protecting human health.

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Press Section
phone: 267 122 818 or 267 122 534 email: tiskove@mzp.cz