Greenpeace – Bulgaria has prepared a special Christmas present for the mayor and deputy chairman of GERB Yordanka Fandakova – a paperweight full of dirty air from Sofia. Representatives of the organization will present it to her in person from 14:00 on December 22 in front of the building of the Sofia Municipality at 33 Moskovska Street.
The organization clarifies that this will happen only if the mayor accepts their invitation to a meeting, at which the requests for better air in Sofia, signed by the citizens, will be symbolically handed over. These requests are concentrated in 7 specific solutions that would ensure a lasting effect on air quality in the capital. In this way, Greenpeace states that we should not see the air we breathe and that it is time for a change.
The situation in Sofia is a problem for the health of the people in the city, which is not taken seriously enough by the Sofia Municipality. The measures planned so far envisage entering the air quality standards only after more than five years, in 2026. This neglect is very clearly evidenced by the fact that our capital was the city with the dirtiest air in the world on November 28 ( according to https://www.iqair.com/), and is quite often in the top 5 of this negative ranking. Campaign coordinator “Greenpeace” – Bulgaria Meglena Antonova said:
“In recent years, we have heard promises and prescriptions for measures to improve air quality and purity in Sofia. It is obvious that this is just a promise, because the facts show that the capital continues to fail to meet the necessary standards for clean air, and residents and guests of the city breathe air that is dangerous to their health. However, we offer a solution to this problem. One of them is the use of renewable energy sources instead of fossil and solid fuels – a practice in developed countries that gives excellent results.”
Anyone who wants the air in Sofia to be cleaner can get acquainted with the proposals of Greenpeace – Bulgaria on the campaign website – vazduhzasofia.org. It sets out the main demands to Fandakova, which anyone can read and if he agrees with them to support the cause. This happens by pressing the „Send opinion“ button, after entering a name and email. In this way, everyone can send the requests directly to the mayor of Sofia, having the opportunity to supplement the text to make it more personal.
While once again the EU is suing Bulgaria for non-compliance with air quality standards, the Sofia Municipality is quietly holding a public consultation on the draft of a new departmental program until 2026. The consultation continues until December 20, and the letters sent by the site are addressed to the procedure. After its completion, the page will remain active so that people can continue to send their requests beyond the consultation period.
