Air pollution in the Balkans – independent monitoring
With our own particulate matter (PM) measuring device, we aim to provide independent data on air quality in a few selected sites in the Balkans.
In spite of growing evidence for air pollution from coal and continued protests from citizens in Balkan countries, the European Commission and the Energy Community do not treat air quality as a priority issue. Air quality data is unreliable in most countries in the region and we suspect the monitoring systems are sometimes turned off or placed in irrelevant locations. On this page we provide regularly collected data from a few selected sites.
The data is gathered for at least 30 continuous days from each location. It is therefore indicative and is not intended to replace stationary long-term monitoring. As clearly visible on the map below, most of the power plants are not sufficiently monitored: many of them fall outside the monitoring stations’ range and do not cover all relevant pollutants.
Implementation of the Air Quality Directive by Western Balkan countries – 2022 update
In order to join the European Union, these countries must undergo a process of approximation with EU legislation and rules. In the field of environmental protection, all of these countries are struggling to meet EU standards. Ambient air quality is among the biggest environmental problems in the region. Efforts to improve air quality are mostly driven by EU legislation, such as the Ambient Air Quality Directive. This briefing assesses each country’s transposition of the Directive, its approach to monitoring air quality, the legal air quality standards in place, how related information is reported to the public, and any plans it has to improve air quality.
LATEST BLOGPOSTS

Let the sunshine in: how a coal region in North Macedonia can switch to sustainable heating
Blog entry | 21 December, 2022The government in North Macedonia wants to link the 40 year old REK Bitola power plant to the regional heating system. But cementing the dependence on fossil fuels would be reckless. Instead, a new study finds that fitting houses in Bitola with air conditioning and solar panels could keep people warm, cut air pollution and even shield against increasingly volatile energy prices. Such households forming energy communities, the study shows, could not only lower initial investments but even generate them some income.
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Replacing coal with forest biomass for heating is a dangerous green mirage
Blog entry | 21 July, 2022With the energy transition well underway, and the end of the era of coal clearly on the horizon, biomass for heating is gradually becoming a favorite for governments in the Western Balkans and their financial partners. ‘Tree power’ might sound like the greenest kind of energy, but burning timber from forests to heat homes is anything but sustainable.
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Kosovo’s new law on pollution control risks muddying the waters
Blog entry | 13 July, 2022Kosovo’s parliament is currently scrutinizing a new law on integrated pollution prevention and control. Its aim is positive – to tighten Kosovo’s standards. But as written now, it risks doing the opposite.
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LATEST PUBLICATIONS

Air pollution and associated health impacts in Novaci, North Macedonia
Publication | 6 April, 2022For the last forty years, the municipality of Novaci has been home to North Macedonia’s REK Bitola complex, which consists of a 675 MW lignite power plant, open-cast mines and ash disposal sites. Its inhabitants have been breathing pollution emitted at
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Implementation of the Air Quality Directive by Western Balkan countries – 2022 update
Publication | 14 February, 2022This briefing reviews the progress of five Western Balkan countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) on the transposition and implementation of the EU’s Air Quality Directive
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Comply or Close 2020
Publication | 23 June, 2020In 2016 alone, roughly 3900 people in the region and in neighbouring countries are estimated to have died as a result of chronic pollution from all existing coal plants. This report is an update of an analysis released by Bankwatch late last year, now including 2019 data.
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