The environmental zone in Hanover is being abolished. Nevertheless, Hannover wants to become a car-free model city: more space for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Those who do not depend on their cars will no longer be allowed to drive them into the city center. Parking spaces are to be eliminated completely. Car-free: in Hannover's case, that means "not one car too many in the city".
On Wednesday, 13.09.2023, the EU Commission voted in favour of adjusting the limit values for air pollutants. This means that the permissible limit values will be significantly lowered from 2035. This change will have far-reaching consequences for transport and air pollution control in cities across the EU. We took a closer look.
Since the beginning of 2020, many trucks are no longer allowed to drive through Tyrol in Austria, even though they comply with the latest Euro standard. However, vehicles travelling to and from Tyrol are not affected by the ban. This is unequal treatment, for which Italy now wants to take legal action.
The permitted values for particulate matter and nitrogen oxide are to be adjusted to the latest limit values of the WHO. These are many times lower than current EU standards. The cities must make massive improvements and take measures in the next few years. Otherwise, the EU could soon be plastered with environmental zones.
Actually, there should be a ban on diesel Euro5 vehicles in Piedmont in Italy soon. 76 municipalities would be affected. Now the council has put the changes on hold for the time being. A sigh of relief for the owners of the approximately 140,000 vehicles.
The future of the automobile lies in alternative drive systems. They should not only contribute to climate protection, but also make the air in cities cleaner. But since the vehicles are usually much heavier than conventional combustion engines, they produce more and more particulate matter. So the air in the cities could get worse again - and there could be new environmental zones.
The Low Emission Zone in London - extended to over 1500 square kilometres a few days ago - could suffer a serious setback. After a citizen challenged the signs in court as unlawful and was proven right, more affected people could now escape the penalties of the ULEZ.
The operator of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has probably been depositing poisoned soil in the surrounding area for years. Traffic, whether on the road, in the air or in the water, is increasingly poisoning our environment. While ordinary consumers are punished by measures like environmental zones, big corporations usually get away with it.
There are more and more classic cars on the roads in Germany. Although they do not get an environmental badge, they are still allowed to enter the German environmental zones. In this way, they contribute massively to air pollution.
In the south of France, people are suffering from enormous heat these days. This contributes massively to the formation of ozone. Therefore, strict driving bans have already been declared in Marseille. Avignon, Toulon and Nice are also threatened with driving bans.
