3rd meeting of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform

Cities and regions have a vital role in achieving the EU’s zero pollution ambition, particularly through improving their own local environment. The Zero Pollution Action Plan’s dedicated flagship initiatives on ‘Supporting urban zero pollution action’ and ‘Promoting zero pollution across regions’ are key to this. These were some of the key messages shared by the participants during the European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek), the biggest annual Brussels-based event on cohesion policy.

The meeting specifically addressed financing, governance and innovation solutions, with a focus on lessons learned from frontrunner cities. Participants also debated the Green City Accord, the role of Smart Cities and synergies with the Cities Mission, the Urban Agenda, the New European Bauhaus, the Covenant of Mayors, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and other initiatives.

Additionally, the European Commission presented a novel monitoring measure, the ’Scoreboard of EU regions’ green performance’. This aims to develop a reward system for best performance as well as to increase transparency for citizens to track local progress over time. Another key focus of the discussions was the phase-out of pollution from pharmaceuticals in cities and regions. The event closed with a discussion of digital solutions for zero pollution targets.

The Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform, a joint initiative of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Commission (EC), convenes twice a year.

You can read the full press release for this event here

Please find the recording of the event here.