The picture of air quality in Italian cities shows signs of improvement, but the road to the 2030 European targets still remains long. This is what emerges from Legambiente’s“Mal’Aria di città 2026” report, which photographs a situation made up of lights and shadows: the cities that exceed daily PM10 limits are decreasing, but adapting to the new European parameters will require much more incisive interventions than those put in place so far.
An improvement in 2025, but still fragile
There were 13 provincial capitals that exceeded the daily PM10 limit in 2025, compared to 25 in 2024 and 29 in 2022, one of the best results in recent years. Leading the negative ranking is Palermo with 89 days over the allowed threshold, followed by Milan with 66 and Naples with 64, while other northern cities such as Lodi, Monza, Cremona, and Verona continue to record high levels of fine particulate matter.
The improvement recorded, however, is not enough to really change the overall picture. According to Legambiente, the decline in overruns is due in part to favorable weather conditions and the gradual technological renewal of vehicles and facilities, rather than truly effective structural policies. Without strengthened interventions, progress could therefore prove temporary.
New 2030 limits change the scenario
The perspective changes dramatically when looking at the new European air quality standards that will come into effect from 2030. If they were already implemented, more than half of Italy’s capitals would be out of compliance for PM10, nearly three-quarters for PM2.5 and more than a third for nitrogen dioxide. The gap is particularly pronounced in areas of the Po Valley, where climatic conditions and concentrations of industrial activities, traffic and intensive livestock farms contribute to maintaining high levels of pollution.
The slow pace of emissions reduction is a major cause for concern: trend analysis over the past 15 years indicates that many cities, while gradually improving, will fail to meet the new European benchmarks while maintaining the current pace of fine particulate matter reduction. Some urban centers may still remain well above the thresholds in 2030, highlighting the need for stronger and more coordinated policies.
The node of the Po River Basin and the new EU infringements
The Po River Basin continues to be one of Europe’s most critical areas for air quality. In recent years, the geography of pollution has gradually shifted from large metropolises to medium and small urban centers and rural areas, where the weight of emissions related to intensive livestock production and domestic heating has become increasingly significant.
The delay in clean-up policies also exposes Italy to new European infringement procedures. In early 2026, the European Commission launched a further challenge for failure to update the National Air Pollution Control Program, adding to the procedures already opened in previous years for exceeding the limits of several pollutants.
Priorities for turning the tide
To meet the 2030 goals, environmental organizations call for a step change in public policies, with continued investment in public transport and sustainable mobility, energy retrofitting programs for buildings , and a gradual elimination of the most polluting sources in domestic heating. These measures are complemented by actions on industrial and agricultural emissions, which are considered crucial, especially in areas of high production intensity.
The improvement in 2025 shows that reducing pollution is possible, but without structural strategies and adequate resources, progress risks slowing just as Europe raises the bar on targets. The challenge in the coming years will not only be to decrease overruns, but to bring pollutant concentrations stably below levels compatible with the protection of public health.
