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The Commission has underlined some main guiding principles in combating pollution: implementation, integration, international cooperation, investments and innovation. They were revealed at the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform organised together with the Committee of the Regions; it is a valuable partnership as EU regions and cities are at the forefront of the zero-pollution transformation.
Background
Pollution, in general, is among most severe global environmental threats: it affects human health more than any other anthropogenic; e.g. air pollution leads to around 250,000 premature deaths every year in the EU and about 17 percent of fatal lung cancers are related to air pollution. Besides, air pollution makes huge negative impact on economy: it causes damages of up to € 2,000 per person, per year; other sources of pollution like mercury seep back in soil and water.
Many other forms of pollution affect people’s health: e.g. excessive noise pollution from traffic increases the chances of strokes and heart disease; kids are increasingly exposed to the risk of microplastics even before they are born. Then, pollution from the so-called “forever chemicals” like PFAS also poses growing risks.
Assuming growing social, environmental and economic problems involved, the EU adopted initiatives “to move to a world without pollution by 2050”, which is only one generation away and “we need to progress fast”, noted Commissioner Roswall at a recent press conference.
The European Commission has already taken action on health for citizens: e.g. since 2016, the EU has updated air pollution targets for 2030; then, in 2022, new rules were approved to improve air quality and better protect EU citizens.
Reference to Commissioner Roswall remarks on the results of the second Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook and fourth Clean Air Outlook reports: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/speech_25_664
Two reports
The Commissioner mentioned two reports publicly revealed recently: the Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook report and the Clean Air Outlook report, followed by a new digital tool, the Zero Pollution Dashboard. The latter is revealed for the first time online with up-to-date information about pollution that zooms in on European regions and cities. For example, it is possible to compare the residential region with another one in a neighboring country, which offers transparency to citizens, scientists, policy makers and businesses alike.
The mentioned reports have some positive news: the EU is heading in the right direction as the air quality is improving; pesticides as well as antimicrobial usage are also decreasing. Besides, for the first time the member states are recording a decline in plastic litter on the beaches.
However, the challenges remain, for example in the areas of transport and waste management; microplastics, noise pollution and chemical pollutants have to be tackled. ‘Forever chemicals’ like PFAS are a growing public health concern and a very present topic, and rightly so, in the public debate.
Exposure to some chemicals has decreased, which is positive as well; however, sometimes those substances are replaced by alternatives that are equally toxic. Hence, the Commission’s work on REACH and on PFAS will be key to better protect human health and the environment from new risks, while at the same time simplifying the frameworks.
More in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/da
Several main pillars
= First, implementation. Although a lot of legislation is already in place, but the reports clearly show that the states and businesses’ efforts could be better in terms of implementation; it will also be an important topic for the EU’s implementation dialogues with the member states.
= Second, integrating zero pollution into other relevant policies, including e.g. the European Water Resilience Strategy and the Chemicals Industry Package; besides it is expected that the resent Circular Economy Act-2022 will shift EU’s economy from linear to circular. This is about creating a change in mindset to reduce resource-related pollution while seizing new business opportunities and scaling up innovation. Besides, the EU has to look at agricultural policy too, making farmers part of the solution: e.g. a recently adopted “Vision for Agriculture and Food” is a useful starting point.
= Third, international cooperation is vital as pollution knows no borders, like the spread of various sorts of microplastics in rivers and oceans. It is the Commission’s responsibility to find solutions to global problems together with other states and regions, no matter how challenging the current international context is and the multilateral agenda shall prevail: as an example is the good progress made by the EU on recent biodiversity summit in Rome.
= Fourth, investments: investing in zero-pollution goes hand in hand with meeting other EU-wide objectives like climate neutrality and resource efficiency. The returns on investment from tackling air pollution are estimated at 700%; thus initiatives like the Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal will encourage the European circular economy by driving the demand for secondary materials, with less pollution coming from resource use or waste, and at the same time boosting European competitive economic model based on clean tech and low carbon emissions.
= Fifth, zero pollution is an opportunity for innovation in Europe: there are several EU-wide champions in clean technologies and the member states are eager to create many more, as this is a sector that generally outperforms the wider economy.
= Sixth, the EU legislation, which must set clear, ambitious, and achievable standards; the EU wants minimizing administrative burden with the legal simplification a key factor; however, the success of the endeavor depends on closer work with all partners.
Note. For those interested in the issue, see our earlier published article on zero-pollution in:
European zero-pollution ambition: complicated ways of progress