The Basque Country is a small country that seeks to contribute in an active and committed way to the managing of the major environmental issues facing humanity.

First, by applying environmental policies which are coherent with the recommendations from Europe, as it has been steadily doing since the approval of the Basque Environmental Strategy for Sustainable Development and in the successive Environmental Framework Programmes. Thus, this IV EFP applies the guidelines from the VII EU Environment Action Programme to 2020 – “Living well, within the limits of our planet”. 

Second, by working closely with the other regions and countries to advance in sustainable development in the world as has been the case with its involvement in the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD), among others. 

In the last decade, the Basque Country has made very significant progress in improving environmental quality. The combination of the environmental policy, together with the energy and industrial policy applied in recent years and, to a good extent, determined by European policies, has proven to be highly effective in terms of improving air quality. 

Particularly noteworthy among the total drop in emissions are sulphur oxides (SOx, associated to the use of fossil fuels in transport and industrial activities), which are down by 62% over that 10-year period, nitrogen oxide (NOx, acidifying substances) down 34% and carbon dioxide (CO2, cause of climate change) by 27%. 

The main deployment actions of the air quality policy in the Basque Country include:
• Cutting pollution caused by transport. From an environmental perspective, transport is unfinished business in Europe. In the Basque Country, emphasis needs to be placed on integrating air quality in the spatial planning, urban planning and traffic management policies within a common objective.
• Improving information for the population. We must continue to work for the administration’s information on air pollution to be more accessible and understandable for the general public.
• Having new methods to anticipate and act more effectively The appropriate air quality control is vital so that, should any abnormal concentration of any pollutant occur, these can be detected as soon as possible and, therefore, prompt action can be taken to correct these situations. 

The Basque Country monitors the atmospheric situations by means of the Air Quality Control Network, which currently has 53 permanent stations distributed throughout the territory and 14 of which monitor industrial activity. Furthermore, it has 4 mobile stations, 1 mobile trailer with analysers and 2 mobile laboratories.

This equipment has analysers and sensors continuously measuring 24 hours a day 365 days a year. 

Many of the lines of action driven from the emerging environmental (mainly ecoefficiency), climate (mitigation) and sectoral (mainly transport, industry and agriculture) policies have significant impacts on the air quality. 

The air quality policy has to go beyond mere legal compliance so that it can effectively guarantee the protection of health and environment. The Basque Country Air Quality policy is committed on that.