Tallinn air is one of the cleanest in Europe
According to the European Environment Agency, Tallinn ranks 4th in Europe in terms of the quality of urban air, closely following Umeå, Sweden; Tampere, Finland and Funchal, Portugal.
The Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart noted that although the air quality in Tallinn is one of the cleanest in the European countries, the improvement of the condition of ambient air must be constantly addressed. "On the one hand, the requirements of the European Union are becoming more stringent and, on the other hand, ambitious targets are being set globally to reduce emissions. However, these goals are based on a larger goal and the preservation of the most valuable resource – the environment and public health, because polluted air has a direct or indirect impact on both our health and the nature," said Kõlvart. "Just as the ecosystem is a whole, clean urban air is just one indicator of a large system and activities that have an impact on our environment. There is no doubt that in the coming years we will have to adapt more and more to climate change and extreme weather events and plan our actions in order to better adapt to the changes and risks posed by climate change in particular. The Tallinn Development Strategy for 2035 and the Climate Plan also set the goal of reducing the impact of our urban life and economy on the climate, doing so in synergy across various areas.”
The air quality data are based on surveys conducted in 2019 and 2020 that measured the level of fine particulate matter in urban air. In Tallinn, with 444,556 inhabitants per 159.3 km2, this figure is 4.4 µg per cubic meter of air, which places us 4th in Europe. Estonian cities Narva and Tartu are also listed in the top ten cities, where pollution particles have been measured at respectively 4.8 and 5.2 µg per cubic meter. Of the nearby capitals, Stockholm ranks 9th and Helsinki 11th in the European Environment Agency's index.
European Environment Agency air quality data can be found at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/european.environment.agency/viz/City_AQ_Viewer/Dashboard1 .