According to the WHO, 90 per cent of the world’s population breathes polluted air, but what is happening in the central Balkans is particularly serious, as Serbia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Kosovo are the main air polluters on the European continent. Every winter, cities and towns across the region face the serious problem of highly polluted air, leaving people increasingly concerned about the impact on their health and the environment around them. Old coal-fired power stations, polluting industries, open-cast lignite mines and illegal dumps are the main culprits, with some of the region’s cities among the most polluted in the world.

In fact, in 2020, total SO2 emissions from coal fired power-industrial plants in the Western Balkans were 2.5 times higher than from all coal-fired power plants in the EU, according to the Comply or Close report published by Bankwatch and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Moreover, the United Nations Environment Programme found out that pollutant concentrations in the region are five times higher than the limits set by the European Union.

“More necessary than the sun” is a photographic journey into the heart of the central Balkans, which began in 2022. The project stems from the objective of documenting the consequences of pollution on the environment and the communities most affected by these ” “monsters”, which reflect a new form of neo- colonialism, as these sites are often run by foreign companies.