Stakeholder workshop – Zero Pollution Action Plan for air, water and soil

As part of its efforts to build a Healthier Planet for Healthier People, the Commission is preparing the ‘Zero Pollution Action Plan for air, water and soil’, for adoption in 2021. On 11 November 2020, the Commission launched an online public consultation that will close on 10 February 2021.

The online stakeholder workshop allowed direct exchanges of views on the initiative. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss key action areas (‘flagships’), where an integrated approach to pollution at EU and national level adds most value, to explore synergies with other European Green Deal objectives and to exchange ideas for investments enabling a leap forward in cutting pollution within the ongoing recovery efforts.

The workshop was open to European and international organisations from businesses, citizens, consumers, environment and other interest areas as well as international bodies. Organisations representing particular interests at EU level should be registered in the EU Transparency Register if they want to participate. 

Background

The European Green Deal announced that to protect Europe’s citizens and ecosystems, the EU needs to move towards a zero pollution ambition, and better prevent and remedy pollution from air, water, soil, and consumer products. To address these interlinked challenges, in 2021 the Commission will adopt a Zero Pollution Action Plan.

Despite important improvements over the last decades, pollution continues to harm citizens and ecosystems. It causes multiple physical and mental diseases, and is one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss. Pollution comes at a high price for society and ecosystems, including health-related costs (healthcare, lost workdays, lost productivity), reduced yields (e.g. in agriculture, fisheries and tourism), remediation costs (e.g. water treatment, soil decontamination, marine depollution) and loss of ecosystem services (e.g. pollination).