The European Union is aiming to step up its efforts to cut pollution from sectors like industry and agriculture as part of its biggest economic overhaul to date. The overarching goal is to eliminate all harmful contamination by 2050, reducing pollution to levels that are no longer damage health or natural ecosystems, according to European Commission documents seen by Bloomberg News.
“Now is the time to be ambitious, to deliver on people’s legitimate aspirations to have their health, environment and livelihoods protected — and to make peace with our planet,” the commission said in the draft strategy.
As part of the new roadmap, the EU aims to cut premature deaths from air pollution by more than 55% by 2030 and reduce by almost a third the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise. It also wants to halve the use of chemical pesticides and the sale of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture.
The strategy targets a 50% reduction in the amount of plastic in the sea and a 30% cut in the amount of microplastics released, also by the end of the decade.
“While the lockdown measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic have led to temporarily cleaner air, waters and reduced noise in many places, slowing down all economic activities is not the way the EU envisions its own and the world’s path towards zero pollution,” the document said. “Instead, the EU can sustain prosperity while transforming production and consumption modes and directing investments towards zero pollution.”