High-Level Meeting at the European Week of Cities and Regions

The workshop brought the EC’s Zero Pollution Action Plan onto the #EURegionsWeek 2022 agenda. The event provided a lively discussion on the role of cities, regions, citizens, and businesses in the EU’s ambition for a toxic free environment as one of the priorities of the European Green Deal.

Participants concluded that:

• Efforts to achieve zero pollution continue to be meaningful at the EU level as well as locally in cities and regions.
• Circular economy and zero pollution go hand in hand in ensuring resource efficiency and reducing societal issues such as food scarcity and poverty.
• Zero pollution also means a focus on health and contributes to the economic model of the most ambitious companies in European industry.
• The EU continues to support regions through a strong cohesion policy, investing €150 billion in the last 7 years to ensure a green transition in cities and regions with targets on water, air, nature, noise, and waste management.

This workshop complemented the third meeting of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform, which is co-chaired by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions.

The event was chaired by Markku Markkula, Vice President of the CoR with the support of Ms. Veronica Manfredi, Director for Zero Pollution and Green Cities at the European Commission. It was opened by Virginijus Sinkevičius, the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at the European Commission. The other speakers were:

• Maria Neira, Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health (WHO)
• Tanya Hristove, Mayor of Gabrovo Municipality and member of EPP
• Maud Tavel, Deputy mayor of Grenoble, Green Capital and GCA signatory

Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Lahti, Green Capital 2021 and GCA signatory.