Air pollution kills tens of thousands in Europe

In 2011, the latest year for which figures have been reliably collated, more than 400,000 people in Europe are estimated to have died prematurely as a result of breathing toxic fumes, despite recent improvements in some countries.

The UK has been one of the worst offenders, with government figures showing European Union regulations on air quality will not be met in London, Birmingham and some other cities until 2030.

Europe is also faring badly on other environmental indicators, including the loss of biodiversity to intensive farming and urbanisation, and the poor state of many inland freshwater systems, according to the State of the Environment report for 2015, published by the European Environment Agency yesterday.

There have been some successes: coastal water pollution has been cleared up in many regions in the last two decades, as untreated sewage is no longer allowed to foul bathing beaches, and greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced overall.

But the EEA warns that although in areas such as industrial pollution, air pollution and waste management the EU is showing good progress, the outlook for two decades from now is increasingly grim on all environmental fronts. In its five-yearly report, the EEA urged its member state governments to take a more "joined-up" view of environmental issues.

The study identified as a key problem the lack of coordination of regulation intended to address different aspects of environmental damage, such as water systems and biodiversity.