HEAL General Assembly 2022

For the first time since 2019, HEAL members came together in person in Brussels again, for the HEAL Annual General Assembly in October 2022.

The HEAL secretariat and members spent two days exchanging, planning and strategising on HEAL’s work programme and priorities. Capacity building and advocacy sessions included: Stronger EU air quality regulations; the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability – CLP and REACH; and the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Regulation.

HEAL’s Executive Director, Genon Jensen gave the 2021-2022 highlights from HEAL’s work to hold the EU accountable to its Green Deal promises and deliver for health. Read the Annual Report here. 

Some highlights:

HEAL Deputy Director Anne Stauffer introduced the session on air quality, with reference to the revised proposal for the Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD), which had just been launched by the EU Commission an hour earlier.

Emeritus Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Bert Brunekreef gave a presentation on the evolution of the WHO’s air quality guidelines and outlined the significant differences that exist between the WHO’s new air quality guidelines and the EU’s air quality framework. 

HEAL Health and Chemicals Programme Lead, Natacha Cingotti, outlined the current state of play and highlighted opportunities for health groups in the current REACH and Classification, Labelling and Packaging of chemical substances and mixtures regulation (CLP) revision process. HEAL’s poster gallery showcased a collection of  17 infographics across our policy areas.

They tell the story of the impacts of pollution and the possibilities for reduction, both through laws and through individual action and are available in a myriad of languages.