The Czech Republic is still struggling with deteriorated air quality. This has a negative impact on the health of the population

PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 23/07 – 29 October 2024


The Czech Republic is still struggling with deteriorated air quality. Immission limits* have not been respected in parts of the country for a long time and are significantly exceeded in some regions, with negative impacts on the health of the population. Although the proportion of the Czech population living in areas with deteriorated air quality is declining, more than one million people still lived there in 2022. Between 2014 and 2022, boiler subsidies for the replacement of non-compliant boilers in households also contributed to reducing pollution. Subsidies aimed at reducing emissions from industry made only a minimal contribution to reducing the volume of harmful pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted. This was shown by an audit of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO), which examined CZK 16.2 billion spent between 2014 and 2022 from the state budget and the EU on projects aimed at improving air quality**. According to the SAO, the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) spent up to CZK 103.5 million on dust control in industry ineffectively.

The MoE supported 111,000 replacements of non-compliant boilers in households with CZK 12.7 billion. These replacements have contributed to improving air quality and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Between 2014 and 2022, boiler subsidies contributed to an 18% reduction in the volume of dust particles emitted. Thus, the SAO assessed the funds spent on replacing substandard household heating sources with boilers with lower pollutant emissions as effective. However, at the time the SAO audit was completed, more than 150,000 non-compliant Class 1 and 2 boilers were still in operation. A ban on the operation of these boilers has been in force since September this year.

Households are the main source of air pollution from dust particles and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). When people are exposed to dust particles for long periods of time, it leads to an increase in their mortality. B[a]P is produced by incomplete combustion and has been shown to be carcinogenic.

The MoE spent a total of CZK 2.9 billion on reducing emissions from industry between 2014 and 2022. Although industry is a significant source of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide air pollution, the SAO found that the funds spent contributed only minimally - less than one per cent - to reducing these emissions. The SAO auditors also found that the MoE spent up to CZK 103.5 million intended for dust reduction in industry ineffectively, as it purchased equipment whose main purpose was not to reduce dust. These were mainly wheel loaders.

In 2015, the Czech government approved the objective: to achieve compliance with the immission limits in the Czech Republic set by Czech and EU legislation in 2020. During the audit, the SAO found that this objective had not been met by the deadline. In that year and in the following years, some immission limits continued to be significantly exceeded, especially in the Moravian-Silesian, Olomouc and Zlín regions, which has a negative impact on the health of the population. Deteriorated air quality is a Europe-wide problem. According to the European Environment Agency, air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in Europe.

During the audit, the SAO conducted a quantitative survey among the beneficiaries of subsidies for the replacement of heating sources in households. It showed, among other things, that if the subsidy for changing the heating source could not be used, up to 47 % of the respondents would probably not purchase a new source. The survey confirmed that one of the main motivations for acquiring a new heating source was the possibility of a subsidy.

Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office

* Immission limits - the maximum permissible level of air pollution set by law.

** The funds were spent from Priority Axis 2: Improving air quality in human settlements of the Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020 and from the New Green Savings Programme and its sub-programmes Family Houses and Adaptation and Mitigation Measures (only funds earmarked for replacing energy sources in family houses).

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