The EU Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform held its second meeting on 25 April with a focus on health and the Zero Pollution Action Plan to reduce water, air and soil pollution and health inequalities in the EU.
The EU still suffers from pollution, with 17 per cent of all lung cancer deaths attributed to air pollution and 11 per cent of premature deaths ascribed to environmental pollution. The right to a clean environment is far from equally distributed among member states and socio-economic groups within member states. Participants pointed out that science and innovation offer new opportunities to reduce environmental pollution but that we need to do more to deploy and implement these innovations at all levels. Patrick Child, Deputy Director General of DG Environment at the European Commission and Co-Chair of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform, said: “The challenge of energy security addressed in the Commission’s RePowerEU strategy calls for rapid acceleration of decarbonisation and deployment of renewable energy, which should have direct benefits for the EU’s zero pollution goals.”
Source: European Committee of the Regions, 29 April2022, https://cor.europa.eu/en/news/Pages/Reducing-pollution-key-overcome-heal...
