More than 500 experts on air quality and the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella are taking part in the Clean Air Forum in Bratislava on Thursday and Friday. "Individual institutions and people need to draw up specific plans and measures in order to improve the quality of air. An era of formalism must come to an end so that reducing air pollution does not remain only on paper," said Slovak President Zuzana Čaputova at the forum in her speech written by her adviser Juraj Rizman. She pointed to the fact that polluted air causes premature deaths and that 5,400 people in Slovakia die in this way each year, a figure 23 times higher than the number of deaths in traffic accidents.
"It's the most prominent European event of this kind, and I'm glad that it's taking place in Bratislava after the previous one in Paris. While the event in Paris was focused mainly on transport emissions, we'll be addressing specific impacts on human health in Bratislava," said the head of the European Commission Representation in Slovakia, Ladislav Miko.
