Countries in the Balkans have been struggling with severe pollution for many years. The pollution can be seen especially in the winter months, and the major contributor is coal mining and coal burning for heating.
Cities like Belgrade, Sarajevo, and many more in this region have organized protests to raise awareness about the issue. Some protesters argue that the issue is much bigger than what they had perceived. Governments' corruption and, specifically, contract signing with numerous Chinese mining companies are major contributors to this problem. Chinese mining companies have produced a lot of waste and pollution since they have started working. The waste goes into the air, water, and soil. The governments still oppose the idea that this kind of pollution is unusual as they claim this is normal for winter months in the cities.
These kinds of hypocritical government decisions are causing numerous environmental and health consequences. The issue remains unresolved after many years of using the same way of heating and with vast knowledge of the consequences of these decisions. The EU has tried to raise the alarm about this issue, but there was no response from these governments. The city of Pristina, capital of Kosovo registered anAir Quality Index (AQI) rating of 298, topping Lahore, Pakistan, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and nearly 100 other cities on the Swiss IQAir website.
In 2019 Serbia topped the number of deaths caused by pollution with 175 deaths per 100,000 people. The health and economic challenges posed by toxic particulates are compounded by other pollutants, which degrade air quality, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively impact the quality of life in Western Balkans. Recognizing the negative effects of these pollutants governments have signed a jointed declaration in November 2020 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The World Bank remains committed to supporting this goal. The World Bank will continue to assist countries in the Western Balkans as they invest in clean energy sources, and it will assist in closing heavily-polluting mines in an environmentally and socially responsible ways and help increase energy efficiency and reduce the footprint of their economies. While challenging, this de-polluting and de-carbonizing plan for the heating sector in countries has the potential to be one of the most effective and rewarding interventions in this sphere. While the World Bank tries to solve the issue by challenging governments to close the major contributors of pollution in these regions like mines, Serbia appears ignorant to all this information and continues to make new laws and devastate the country. What will happen in the future? Will these governments conclude that this can not go on? Will these countries become even more polluted?
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