Air pollution

Urban and rural air quality, national and transboundary pollution, measures

Why should we care?

Atmospheric pollution has been one of the major initial drivers of environmental protection policies in Austria. For two decades since the late 1970s, forest decline linked to high sulphur emissions in central Europe and acid rain made the protection of the environment a top-ranked concern of both public opinion and national policies. As a consequence, sulphur dioxide emissions in Austria were reduced by more than 80%, more than in any other European country.