Focus Area

Fight air, water & noise pollution

The environment is one of the most heavily regulated areas in Europe. Despite this, the concentration of air pollutants in our streets is leading to thousands of premature deaths each year. Harmful noise pollution affects over 100 million Europeans and noise levels are on the increase, with no significant legislative improvements for more than a decade. And, for many cities, growing impacts from climate change and sustainability issues are making it harder to guarantee a healthy freshwater supply. Cities are taking bold action to fight pollution: promoting cleaner and quieter vehicles, encouraging a shift to clean transportation, sharing evidence on how to efficiently integrate water management, and considering noise reduction as a central element of urban planning. Environmental threats like air and water pollution know no borders and cities cannot act alone, which is why they work via coordinated action across local, national and EU levels of government, as well as across sectors as varied as transport, agriculture, shipping, climate and energy.  Read more on our statements:

Contacts

Heather Brooks Policy & Project Officer (Noise, Green Areas & Biodiversity)
Louise Coffineau Policy Advisor (Water, Circular Economy, Climate)
Eugenia Mansutti Projects coordinator & Policy Advisor (Covenant of Mayors, Climate and Energy)
Thomas Lymes Policy Advisor, Mobility & Air Quality

Projects

  • The Covenant of Mayors is the world's largest movement for local climate and energy actions. Signatories endorse a shared vision for 2050: accelerating the decarbonisation of their territories, strengthening their capacity to adapt to unavoidable climate change impacts, and allowing...

    About the project

    Covenant of Mayors

  • The sustainable transition is possible, with mayors and cities on board.

    About the project

    Mayors Alliance for the European Green Deal

  • CitiObs' co-creation process facilitates inclusive local actions for sustainability, ensuring that Citizen Observatories data contributes significantly to research and policy development in alignment with the objectives of the European Green Deal.

    About the project

    CitiObs