Environment monitoring in Romania represents a stringent necessity under the drastic conditions of climate change and the increased pollution of the environment (air, water, food) for millions of Romanian citizens when taking into account the following circumstances:
- Bucharest is one of the most polluted capitals of Europe, due to the high number of cars with Euro Emissions 1, 2 and 3 (500,000 cars, 50% of all cars in Bucharest) and a continued low number of electric cars and charging stations;
- The air quality control is lacking and the measurement sites in Bucharest are low in number and not representative for such a large urban habitat (>2,500,000 inhabitants);
- There are over 20,000 deaths caused by pollution registered every year;
- Romania, along with other five EU nations, have been referred by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2018, for failing to tackle illegal levels of air pollution;
- The natural water sources are highly contaminated with nitrites/nitrates due to intensive agriculture activity;
- The pollution of big rivers, like the Danube, is exceptionally high; the effects of pollution on fish, vegetation, and soil are insufficiently studied and the lack of awareness hinders any pollution reduction effort;
- Uncontrollable Deforestation phenomenon in Romania, which started greatly affecting the climate;
- Very low waste recycling percentages, bring Romania very close to infringement;
- Insufficient resources and research capacity to tackle with science solutions to those challenges.
Thus, the NET4Air project has been envisioned as a way of tackling the rising climate concerns and promoting the development of the research landscape through networking and collaboration with countries more advanced in the field such as Ireland and Italy. The Twinning actions funded through Horizon Europe proved the perfect fit for the goals defined within the project.