A new international treaty is to come into force on Thursday that will enable citizens across Europe to identify the big polluters in their neighbourhoods and track not only toxic compounds but also carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The pact, a protocol to the 2001 Aarhus Convention on public access to environmental information and decision-making, requires industrial companies to report each year on 86 pollutants spewed into the air, soil and water or shipped off-site.