ZAGREB, January 18, 2020 – Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Friday that cities with higher levels of air pollution, including Zagreb, need to prepare action plans to combat pollution and then act based on those plans.
“Cities that have higher levels of air pollution need to prepare action plans and act according to those plans. That is not in the remit of the government,” Ćorić said opening a gas compressor station in Velika Ludina, about 60 kilometres east of Zagreb.
The government cannot do anything in the short term but in the long term there are a series of measures aimed at reducing pollution and Croatia is heading in that direction. The long-term measures include energy efficiency and the transition to vehicles that do not cause air pollution.
Through the Environment Protection and Energy Fund, the government co-finances the purchase of electric vehicles as well as the transition of public institutions to cleaner forms of heating and in the context of its strategies it seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and is oriented towards renewable energy sources, said Ćorić.
With reference to the current air pollution in Zagreb, Ćorić said that this is a phase caused by meteorological circumstances “because we are in the middle of the heating season.”
“Some analysis has shown that a certain portion of pollution comes from across the border to certain towns in Croatia,” Ćorić said and noted the case of Kopački Rit Nature Park where the level of particulate matter is higher than normal, although there is not pollution there.
Ćorić criticised those who make off-handed catastrophic comments and cause tension in society.
“That is not good for this society. In a few days’ time, as weather forecasters have announced, the fog will lift and colder temperatures and snow are forecast and this situation should calm down,” he concluded.
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