 Hi there. In this video we talk about air, a more specifically polluted air, which is a serious health hazard that destroys the environment and endangers future generations. Access to clean air should therefore not be a luxury, but a fundamental right for everyone. In Europe, three out of four citizens live in a city. There we face congestion, noise and pollution, generating stress and adverse health effects. During summer heat waves, pollution increases and older people and those suffering from respiratory problems are in danger. Polluted air also impacts vegetation and wildlife with almost two thirds of Europe's ecosystems threatened by its effects. While air quality in towns and cities has deteriorated as a result of rising industrial and energy production, as well as the burning of fossil fuels and biomass, the dramatic rise in traffic on roads is one of the biggest factors for air pollution. Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU greenhouse gas emissions. With the abolition of internal borders and the further integration of our internal market, the volumes of goods and passengers transported have increased at a quick pace. And most of those goods are transported across the EU market, primarily by road, causing heavy traffic, unsafe roads and pollution. So how can we maintain our mobility in an inclusive, affordable, accessible, yet sustainable manner? And can we at the same time improve health protection and protect the environment? It's firstly up to all of us to change our means of transport to contribute to the creation of liveable cities. While many of us are already replacing urban car trips with alternatives such as public transport, biking or even walking, air travel is still increasing yearly. Consuming less also means that less goods have to be transported across Europe or from other parts of the world. Opting for local products instead of using shopping options online or purchasing products that were shipped through transport modes powered by renewable energy can be great alternatives. This also is true for consuming food. Remember, the agricultural sector is one of the biggest polluters in the EU. So that's what each of us can do for a start. But to shift the entire EU to a mobility system that puts people's health before profits, we need our political leaders on the EU and national level to take action. Firstly, air quality standards are lagging behind what is recommended by experts for protecting people's health. We need legislation in line with the suggestions of the World Health Organization. With positive examples from all over the EU, we know that urban planning can be done in a way that provides for an inclusive, safe, sustainable, resilient and prosperous space for all. We can do this by giving priority to zero and low emissions transport, limiting access of personal cars to urban centres, while increasing the space for bikes and pedestrians. But the planning must also make sure that a decreasing car use does not come with a limitation of access to rural areas for those who don't own a private car anymore. We also need our political leaders to stop, directly and indirectly, subsidising road and air travel, but rather to invest in a mobility system that has little to no impact on the environment. This means a system based on interoperability, intermodality and interconnectivity of different modes of transport and more public investments in railroads and cross-border links, including night trains. It cannot be that in the EU it is often three to four times more expensive to take a train rather than a plane. So hey, let's stop tax breaks, such as tax exemption on kerosene, which are giving competition advantages to the air travel industry. And finally, as we have seen from the recent dieselgate scandal, pollution by vehicles is not controlled seriously enough and companies are not held accountable. We need better testing procedures, but also higher fines and penalties for those who bend the rules. Unfortunately, far too often decisions by policymakers are aimed at short-term measures to reduce road congestion, such as building more on bigger roads to meet the increase of car traffic. While we can change our daily habits, we do need politicians to work towards the necessary infrastructure and to tackle the broader challenge of a transition towards sustainable transport, mobility and urban planning.