The first smog alert was established in Krakow, in 2013. The actions taken by Kraków Smog Alert have contributed to raising public awareness of air quality issues and their importance.
Consequently, in 2016 Kraków became the first Polish city to ban solid fuel heating in low power boilers. The ban will come into force in 2019.

Kraków Smog Alert was soon joined by a network of Local Smog Alerts. Thanks to their joint efforts:

  • public awareness of the smog problem has increased,
  • the situation has reached a breaking point, which forced the politicians to start working on changes in the law,
  • nobody denies the air pollution problem in Poland any more, which was a common practice only a few years ago,
  • the issue of air pollution receives wide coverage in local and national media
  • weather forecasts presented by the main nationwide media have started to provide information on air pollution levels, which increases air quality awareness among the public.
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Raised public awareness has translated into changes in law.

  • In January 2016 Kraków became the first city in Poland to introduce a ban on solid fuel heating in low power boilers (coming into force in 2019).
  • In 2017 anti-smog resolutions were passed by the authorities of Małopolskie, Śląskie, Łódzkie and Mazowieckie regions.
  • Two other regions (Dolnośląskie and Wielkopolskie) are planning to pass similar resolutions in the autumn of 2017.
  • In 2017 the national government introduced emission standards for low power, solid fuel boilers.
  • Work is in progress on other essential regulations: coal quality norms and financial support schemes for boiler replacement and thermal renovation.

Polish Smog Alert activists are engaged in the implementation of the LIFE programme, under which a network of eco-managers was created and local authorities were involved in the fight against air pollution.

PSA has set up an online portal which, as the first such portal in our country, focuses on various aspects of air pollution not only in Poland, but also in Europe and all over the world. SmogLab.pl is visited by several tens of thousands users every month.