According to a new report from the Food and Environment Ministry, air pollution is a significant culprit when it comes to premature deaths in the Copenhagen region.
According to the figures, 1,700 people die earlier than they should from breathing in the toxic particles in the air: 550 in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities alone.
“That’s a frighteningly high figure. You have to remember that this also impacts family members who lose close ones, so it really affects even more people,” Lars Aslan Rasmussen, a PM for Socialdemokratiet party, told DR Nyheder.
“As one of the greenest countries in the world, we can’t accept that so many people are dying because of this.”
READ MORE: Mayor seeks ban on diesel cars in Copenhagen after 2019
Wood-burning bane
The report indicated that the biggest sources of air pollutants in the capital region were diesel cars and wood-burning stoves – the latter accounts for 70 percent of the unwanted airborne particles. Some 147,000 homes in the capital region contain wood-burning stoves.
Across the whole of Denmark, it is estimated that about 3,600 people die from air pollution every year, which is at least better than the 5,600 who are believed to have died in 1990.
The issue has also been pressing at the local level as of late, with Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen recently proposing to ban diesel cars in the capital from 2019.
