In 2023, Dnipro topped the anti-rating of cities with the dirtiest air, with a comprehensive air pollution index of 12.4. Kamianske came in second with an index of 11.9, and Mykolaiv took third place with a value of 11.2.
This was reported by the public organization Save Dnipro on Facebook.
According to the data published on the Open Data Portal, it is noted that in 2023, a high level of pollution according to the Air Pollution Index (API) was recorded in a total of 13 cities in Ukraine.
There were no very high levels of pollution in Ukrainian cities. The overall level of air pollution in Ukraine according to the AQI was 6.6 in 2023 and was assessed as elevated.
TOP-10 most polluted cities of Ukraine:
- Dnipro – IZA 12.4;
- Kamianske – 11.9;
- Kramatorsk – 11, 2;
- Mykolaiv – 10.1;
- Odesa – 9.6;
- Kherson – 9, 3;
- Lviv – 8.3;
- Lutsk – 8.2;
- Vinnytsia – 7.9;
- Kyiv – 7.7;
Save Dnipro notes that the leading positions of Dnipro and Kamianskyi are the result of mainly industrial pollution based on emissions from non-modernized enterprises. Although transport emissions and military actions also affect the overall level of pollution, these cities have surpassed even Kyiv (where there is more traffic) and Kherson with Kramatorsk (where there is more shelling).
"Delaying the reform in the field of industrial pollution is a crime that leads to the loss of health of thousands of residents of industrially burdened cities," the public organization says.
The Organization notes that in draft law 6004-d, which is in the Verkhovna Rada, this reform, especially regarding the oldest capacities, has a contradictory nature. According to the text prepared for the second reading, outdated enterprises that are not subject to or do not plan to modernize will be given a so-called "permit to die" – a ten-year delay before complete closure. That is, for another 10 years, non-modernized enterprises will work according to the same rules that apply to them now.
"We call on people's deputies to start industrial pollution reform, at the same time to take a critical view of these provisions set out in Clause 4 of Article 29 of draft law 6004-d, and to provide mechanisms for real reduction of emissions by enterprises that are not going to carry out eco-modernization", Save Dnipro emphasizes.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on environmental policy and nature management at its meeting on Wednesday, January 25, recommended that the parliament adopt in the first reading the consolidated draft law No. 6004-d "On ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens to safety for life and health" I am the environment."
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in the first half of 2023 in 9 cities of Ukraine, namely Dnipro, Kamiansk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia and Lutsk, a high level of air pollution was detected.
