European Commissioner for Environment and Oceans Virginijus Sinkevicius speaks during a media conference on the air quality in Europe for 2020 at EU headquarters in Brussels, on Nov. 23, 2020. (Kenzo Tribouillard, Pool via AP)
ANTWERP, Belgium (AFP) — Out for an afternoon hike, Veerle Bonaers and a friend stop pushing their baby and look down to their map, suddenly aware they have taken a wrong turn.
Their baby, Claire, dressed in pink slippers, doesn’t make a sound, sitting snug in her blue buggy, winter sunlight touching her soft tuft of blonde hair.
Claire, an acronym for Clean Air for Everyone, is silent because she is a doll and wedged beside her are three electric sensors that measure the particulate matter that spews out of factories and car exhausts.