UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' message to Bosnian authorities to tax the polluters, stop subsidising fossil fuels and stop building new thermopower plants so they could decrease air pollution was conveyed by United Nations Environment Programme representatives on Saturday, in Sarajevo.

“Science has shown that we are losing 3,000 lives annually in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to air pollution. On this occasion, I call on all the stakeholders in Bosnia, primarily those in the energy, spatial planning and development, and transport sectors to engage in solving environmental problems,” the UNEP representative in Bosnia, Amina Omicevic said, on the occasion of the World Environment Day.

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity's Minister of Environment and Tourism Edita Djapo said that spatial plans must be respected in order to protect the environment.

“The Ministry has drafted a new air protection law that will enable us to fight against emissions coming from indoor fireplaces. We all know that Bosnia signed the Paris Declaration and therefore committed itself to work on harmonising spatial plans with environmental interventions,” said Djapo.

Speaking of air pollution, she said that everyone would like to see the results very fast, but that it is a long process.

“This is a global problem, especially for small countries with a low gross domestic product,” Djapo added.

Competent local environmental institutions also supported the activities of the Breathe Life Campaign, which officially began on Saturday in the Canton Sarajevo amid the World Environment Day.