Skopje 02.03.2022 – Today, the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP) officially received the equipment for measuring air quality worth more than EUR 300 thousand, provided within the frame of the Swedish support aimed towards improving air quality in North Macedonia. In addition, Sweden provided financial assistance for the cooperation between the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) and the MoEPP through the three-year project “Supporting North Macedonia in EU accession in the Environmental Field”.
The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP) was provided with high-precision laboratory equipment for measuring air quality. The project improved the measuring capacity of eight measuring stations located throughout North Macedonia by replacing 14 obsolete measuring instruments for PM10 particles, nitrogen oxides and ozone, and by installing 8 new PM2.5 particles monitoring instruments. These parameters are a standard set of monitored pollutants and which have a major impact on people’s health.
“Replacing obsolete measuring instruments and installing new ones in the monitoring stations of the State automatic ambient air quality system was a great challenge, especially as it means improvement of the system which is the only official source of national air quality data”– said the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini, emphasizing that this system is of high importance for air quality management, the creation of national policies, reporting towards the European Environment Agency and to several international agreements, as well as our continuous efforts to implement the EU legislation and thus accelerate the process of European integration.
With the aim to help North Macedonia in upgrading the system for measuring air pollution and for reporting air quality data in accordance with EU standards, which are requirements for EU accession, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency recognized the country’s need to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity necessary for monitoring air quality. The Swedish Ambassador to North Macedonia Kristin Forsgren Bengtsson spoke about the importance of the project for improving the efficiency of institutions responsible for measuring air pollution.
“Air pollution is a global health crisis and we need to focus our efforts on tackling it with a great sense of urgency. It is rather well-known that the air pollution levels in many Macedonian cities on many days, especially during the cold part of the year, exceed the recommendations of WHO. Sweden is therefore proud that we can support efforts to address the current situation.”, said Swedish Ambassador to North Macedonia Kristin Forsgren Bengtsson, emphasizing that these new measuring devices will provide better information on the quality of the air and help people to make more informed decisions.
“This donation of instruments will help both the public and decision-makers in North Macedonia to better understand what pollutants are in the air”, said Kristian Silver, project manager from the Swedish EPA. He also pointed out that decision-makers need reliable data to implement efficient measures to combat the problem of air pollution.
At the subsequent meeting at MoEPP, Minister Nuredini expressed his gratitude for the support in upgrading the Data Management System (AIRVIRO), as well as for the introduction of the RAVEN system designed to report data on air quality to the European Environment Agency. Moreover, it was pointed out that the project also includes a number of other activities, aimed at supporting North Macedonia in EU accession and capacity building within biodiversity and nature protection.
