A/HRC/43/53/Add.2 metre). In addition, Norway had no exceedances of the European Union air quality limit for nitrogen dioxide in 2018, in contrast to many other European nations. 50. Improvements in Norwegian air quality are directly connected to stronger environmental laws, policies and other measures at both the national and local level, particularly in the transport sector (discussed earlier in the section on climate change). These improvements reinforce the importance of taking an integrated approach to air pollution and climate change. Norway appears to be successfully implementing all seven steps outlined in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment on air pollution and human rights (A/HRC/40/55, paras. 63–78). For example, there is an extensive air quality monitoring network, information on air quality is widely available, including detailed daily updates, and standards are in place through a combination of European Union legislation (e.g., the Air Quality Directive) and Norwegian law (the Pollution Control Act). 51. To further improve air quality, national limit values for particulate matter have been made more rigorous, and more ambitious national goals for air quality have been set. 26 Local governments in Norway play a major role in protecting air quality through planning, zoning and oversight of transport. 52. While impressive progress has been made, it is estimated that air pollution still causes more than 1,500 premature deaths in Norway annually. 27 Efforts to reduce the burden of air pollution should therefore continue. In addition, there is emerging evidence that air pollution is inequitably distributed in Norway, with worse air quality afflicting lowincome Norwegians. 28 Developing and implementing public policies to address this environmental injustice is essential. D. Clean water and adequate sanitation 53. Norwegians enjoy universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. Most of the drinking water comes from surface water sources, requiring treatment and in some cases (e.g., Oslo) also filtration. Some rural residents depend on groundwater from wells. Norway implements the European Union Water Framework Directive, as well as directives on water quality, drinking water and urban wastewater. 54. New regulations on drinking water and a round-the-clock national help desk for water treatment plants were implemented in 2017 to ensure the quality of the water supply.29 However, there are still occasional outbreaks of waterborne disease in Norway, including an incident in the summer of 2019 in Askøy, a community near Bergen, where 2,000 people became ill as a result of drinking water contaminated with a naturally occurring bacteria known as campylobacter.30 55. Some water distribution networks in Norwegian cities are more than a century old, resulting in significant losses due to leakage and creating risks of post-treatment contamination.31 Similar problems exist for some sewage pipes. Municipalities need to plan for major investments in repairing and upgrading this essential infrastructure. Because of the increasing impacts of climate change, additional efforts will be necessary to deal with 26 27 28 29 30 31 Norway, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, One Year Closer 2018: Norway’s Progress Towards the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. European Environment Agency, Air Quality in Europe: 2018 Report (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2018). Audun Hoemsnes Moss, “Norwegian Inequality in Two Dimensions: Air Pollution and Income”, master’s thesis, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 2019. Norway, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, One Year Closer 2018. See www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2019/06/15/norway-water-crisis-thousands-fall-ill-on-islandnear-bergen/#2fa45529616d. Lucy Robertson and others, “A water contamination incident in Oslo, Norway during October 2007; a basis for discussion of boil-water notices and the potential for post-treatment contamination of drinking water supplies”, Journal of Water and Health, vol. 7, No. 1 (1 March 2009). 11