Air pollution 'costing Europe billions'

Air pollution is costing Europe billions of euros every year, a new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has confirmed.

The report has suggested the 10,000 largest carbon producing facilities throughout the continent caused up to €169 billion (£145 billion) of environmental damage in 2009.

Emissions from these sources cost each European citizens between €200 and €330 on average throughout the year.

According to the study, the UK, Poland, Germany, Italy and France were the worst offenders.

EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade stated Europe cannot afford to ignore the issues raised by the research.

"By using existing tools employed by policy-makers to estimate harm to health and the environment, we revealed some of the hidden costs of pollution," she remarked.

The World Wildlife Fund recently called for more action to be taken to curb carbon output from the shipping sector. Representatives indicated that raising the carbon price on a tonne of fuel to $25 (£15.50) could cause organisations to be more frugal.

Posted by Claire Manning