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Tags Air pollution

Tag: air pollution

We are still waiting for government subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles

Electric vehicle charger in Skopje; Photo: Meta.mk's photo archive North Macedonia’s budget for 2023 does not provide financial resources for subsidies to the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles, although such a promise was made by the Macedonian government at the end of 2018. On 15th November 2018, the Government promised to introduce subsidies for purchasing electric and hybrid vehicles,...

Minister Bekteshi’s promise to ban the import of vehicles below EURO 5 standard is unfulfilled

(This content is a translation of the original article in Macedonian, published on the 6th of December 2022) The statement of Kreshnik Bekteshi, the Minister of Economy of North Macedonia, given at the end of January 2021 that by the end of the last year the import of vehicles below the EURO 5 gas emissions standard would be banned, is...

While the citizens of North Macedonia breathe pollution, diesel consumption breaks all records [Infographic]

The “competition” of Skopje and the other cities in North Macedonia in breaking the world records for air pollution has commenced. While the data from “Iqair” indicates that Skopje is at the top of the world list of air pollution, together with the Asian cities New Delhi, Hanoi, Lahore or Calcutta, but also some cities in the Balkans such...

For the fifth year in a row, EU with criticism about air pollution in North Macedonia, no remarkable progress noted

In 2022, just like in the previous years, the European Commission (EC) in its Report on North Macedonia's progress in the EU integration process, once again came up with criticism about air pollution in North Macedonia. In the chapter "Environment and climate change", EU pinpointed the acceleration of the efforts to cut air pollution, both on local and national...

Government of North Macedonia didn’t introduce the promised environmental stickers for vehicles

In late 2018, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia promised it will introduce environmental stickers for categorization of the pollution the vehicles cause, with a set deadline for implementation in 2019 and 2020. The promise written in the Program for Reducing Air Pollution of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia to this day is unfulfilled. The...

North Macedonia, facing extreme air pollution, does not have a state laboratory to measure it

The Central Environmental Laboratory will not be ready to monitor the quality of the air the citizens of North Macedonia will breathe this coming winter. Although quite recently the minister of environment, Naser Nuredini, announced that the country is facing a difficult winter, when dirty fuels will be used for the production of electricity and for heating and that...

The number of wildfires in North Macedonia decreases in 2022, the area destroyed this year dozens of times smaller than last year

After the catastrophic wildfires that engulfed North Macedonia's forests last year, the situation with wildfire prevention in the country this year has improved drastically. During the first 6 months of 2022, 69 wildfires were registered and an area of 733.02 hectares was burned, with 4 621 cubic meters of wood damaged, the Public Enterprise (PE) "Nacionalni shumi" (National Forests)...

Greenhouse gas emissions in North Macedonia are on the rise instead of declining

After reaching the historically lowest record of greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, Macedonia unfortunately increased the emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere that are contributing to climate change's negative effects. The Energy sector is at the forefront of this negative rise. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data)for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t.contentWindow===e.source)t.style.height=e.data+"px"}}}))}(); According to the last data - from 2019, published in the...

How much will North Macedonia exploit the €9 billion Green Agenda for sustainable projects?

РЕК Битола фото: ЕСм
The economic investment plan for Western Balkan's green transition weighs €9 billion. North Macedonia is part of the Western Balkan's Green Agenda, a long-term green socioeconomic scenario that should give the region a sustainable future. This country's civic organizations are unanimous that the Green Agenda is our reality and future. It is clear that every backpedaling from the set goals...

Skopje lacks funds for a wider network of air pollution measuring stations and a Green Cadaster

There are no funds for a wider network of low-price air pollution measuring stations, which were supposed to be emplaced all across Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. There are no funds for the preparation of the Green Cadaster, either. With the last rebalancing of the City of Skopje's budget, that was voted in on Monday, only one proposal...

Car ownership in North Macedonia rose to record high – 66.8% of households reported owning a car in 2021

Safeguarding the environment through the fight against climate change and air pollution in the cities throughout North Macedonia is something that exists only in theory. In reality, the data provided by the State Statistical Office - SSO show that unlike any period before, the number of Macedonian households owning a passenger vehicle last year has climbed to 66.8%. The analysis...

Skopje City Hall still hasn’t introduced bicycle rental system as alternative transportation solution

In a situation when we see a new record of registered vehicles on the streets of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, and there is a continuous decrease of the number of passengers using the public transportation, the bicycle rental system which was implemented by the Public enterprise (PE) City Parking, now isn't functioning - for the 4th year...

New government of North Macedonia will have to ban imports of sub-EURO 5 vehicles

A year has passed since the North Macedonia Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi stated that the import of used cars in North Macedonia below the EURO 5 standard for gas emissions will be banned. He announced that the ban of cars older than 10 years will start in 2021, but toward the end of last year, the Ministry of...

Solar collectors could replace wood-burning stoves, help fight air pollution and could provide for cheaper electricity

The global energy crisis, which caused enormous rise of the prices of the electric and the heat energy, activated the red alarm for the citizens of North Macedonia. The questions about the amount of the electricity bills starting from the 1st of January 2022, accompanied by the speculations that there will be power rationing measures, drove the the citizens...

Due to air pollution, Skopje’s Lisiche very dangerous to live in

The level of the air pollution in Skopje during October and November of 2021 was lower compared to the same period in 2020. Concerning the PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles during this past autumn, there is a trend of their decline, while the carbon monoxide and the nitric oxide were within the normal limits. The scope of the...

Tender for implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit in Skopje announced

Three days before the second round of the local elections in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, the mayor of Skopje Petre Shilegov announced the call for tender for implementation of the the Bus Rapid Transit - BRT. The tender procedure follows after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a loan for the implementation of the Bus...

EU requests bigger money contributions to the fight against the air pollution in North Macedonia

European Commission's latest report about North Macedonia and its reforms clearly stresses that North Macedonia should increase the assetsthat are allocated on national and local levels to decrease air pollution. "...limited implemention and ressources, weak inter-sectoral cooperation and coordination between central and local authorities limits the impact of measures to reduce air pollution. Air pollution in major cities remains a...

Environmental tax on fuel stranded in Parliament of North Macedonia, number of diesel vehicles has risen by 160.000 in 8 years

Notwithstanding the announcements that the environmental tax on fuels will be implemented in North Macedonia from the 1st of July, until today the tax still wasn't introduced and there are no announcements that an additional rise in fuel prices will happen in the forthcoming period. Environmental tax was announced for diesel, gasoline and other petroleum products. This, reportedly, should...

No electricity price hikes in North Macedonia expected, but there will be coal imports

There is no reason for panic among Macedonian citizens regarding the price of the electricity during the forthcoming months, said the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia. Throughout Europe, the price of electricity at Holland's market has climbed from 16 EUR for MGw/h in January up to 98 EUR for MGw/h toward the end of September, Politico...

The world is banning the plastic bags, while we still discuss if their prices should go up!

While the world is completely banning the single-use plastic and the plastic bags, in North Macedonia there are still debates whether to increase their prices in the supermarkets and if that can help to decrease the waste production. Civic organizations call the municipalities to account and say that even the best laws are in vain if the local self-government...