Zero pollution action plan

Pollution harms our health and our environment. 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.

In addition to affecting people's health, pollution is 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.

The public health, environmental, moral and socio-economic case for the EU to lead the global fight against pollution is today stronger than ever.

On 12 May 2021, the European Commission adopted the EU Action Plan: "Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil" (and annexes) - a key deliverable of the European Green Deal. You can get more information and get involved in the implementation of the Action Plan through the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform.

The zero pollution vision for 2050 is for air, water and soil pollution to be reduced to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems, that respect the boundaries with which our planet can cope, thereby creating a toxic-free environment.

This is translated into key 2030 targets to speed up reducing pollution at source. These targets include:

The action plan aims to strengthen the EU green, digital and economic leadership, whilst creating a healthier, socially fairer Europe and planet. It provides a compass to mainstream pollution prevention in all relevant EU policies, to step up implementation of the relevant EU legislation and to identify possible gaps.

The European Green Deal announced headline actions on zero pollution.

You can track the progress of the individual flagships and actions announced in the Zero Pollution Action Plan:

See progress on actions

The Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook, published on 8 December 2022, offers a snapshot of the current state of the pollution in the EU, and answers questions on the pollution trends over the past years, and whether we are likely to achieve 2030 zero pollution targets.

See progress on zero pollution targets

Previous and upcoming zero pollution actions

Find out more about the proposals:

Find out more in the press materials.

See additional information.

See additional information.

See additional information.

See the launch event of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform

See additional information

See the call

See the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform

Find out more about EU Green Week 2021

Find out more about the stakeholder workshop on the zero pollution action plan

See the results of the public consultation.