EU green week 2021

Monday, May 03 , 2021 4006

The EU organize a new Green week in 2021, from 31st May to 4th June, with an opening event in Lahti Finland .

This year the major topic is focused on "Zero pollution - For healthier people and planet"

 

Pollution affects everybody – through the air we breathe, the water we drink or the land we grow our food on. It is the largest environmental cause of multiple mental and physical diseases, and of premature deaths, especially among children, people with certain medical conditions and the elderly. But pollution does not affect everybody equally. People who live in more deprived areas very often live close to contaminated sites or in areas where there is a very high flow of traffic. Pollution is also one of the main reasons for the loss of biodiversity. It reduces the ability of ecosystems to provide services such as carbon sequestration and decontamination.

But it can be prevented. The EU Action Plan toward a Zero Pollution Ambition is a key action of the European Green Deal scheduled for spring 2021. It will help to create a toxic-free environment across the EU by better monitoring and, reporting, and by preventing and remedying pollution from air, water, soil, and consumer products.
It will also support the post-COVID 19 recovery by helping to rebuild a more sustainable EU economy, creating job opportunities and reducing social inequalities. The European Green Week 2021 will be dedicated to the ‘zero pollution ambition’. It will also look at other relevant European Green Deal initiatives, such as the climate initiatives, the upcoming Chemicals Strategy, as well as initiatives in the fields of energy, industry, mobility, agriculture, fisheries, health and biodiversity.

EU Green Week 2021 will be an opportunity to engage with all stakeholders and interested citizens on how we can work together to make the ambition for a zero pollution and toxic-free environment a reality.

 

On the first of June, a conference will be organized on the topic of biodiversity and environment focused on: "Lightening the load - removing environmental pressures to set global biodiversity on a path to recovery".

Pollution is a key driver of biodiversity loss and has a harmful impact on our health and environment. While the EU has a solid legal framework in place to reduce pollution, greater efforts are still required. Biodiversity is suffering from the release of nutrients, chemical pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hazardous chemicals, urban and industrial wastewater, and other waste including litter and plastics. All of these pressures must be reduced. The EU is ready to lead all efforts – working with like-minded partners around the world - on Zero Pollution Ambition as part of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Speakers:

• Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General, Directorate General for Environment, European Commission
• Anna Engleryd, Chair, Executive Body, Air Convention 
• Isaura Rabago Juan-Aracil, Chair, Working Group on Effects 
• Carlos Martin Novella, Deputy Executive Secretary, Basel-Rotterdam-Stockholm Conventions
• Mark A. Sutton, Environmental Physicist, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Moderator:

• Aleksandar Rankovic, Sciences Po, author of IDDRI Brief “Mobilising the chemical conventions to protect biodiversity”, 2019

 

You can download the full programme of this event, attached .

If you are interested to attend this conference or other events in the framework of this EU green week 2021, you can use this EU special website: https://www.eugreenweek.eu/

 

The UEF Presidency

Related documents:
Green week 2021 programme.pdf