High level panel: Why urgent action on the EU’s Zero Pollution ambition matters for health – voices from communities and vulnerable groups

Virtual, public event – moderated by Tamsin Rose. Friday, 10 December 2021, 14.30 – 16.00 CET

Pollution harms our health and the environment. It is the largest environmental cause of multiple, often chronic diseases and of early death. Groups most vulnerable are for example children, the elderly and those already ill. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization and the EEA, one in eight deaths in the EU are attributable to the environment.

The EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, launched May 2021, has the potential to reduce pollution and create a toxic-free environment in the European Union. But concrete action to realise this goal is urgently needed.

Just days ahead of the launch of the EU’s zero pollution stakeholder platform, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) warmly invites you to join a webinar, during which voices from affected communities and vulnerable groups will testify on the need for better health protection in the EU.

Panel debate with testimonies from:

• Moms against PFAS – Dr. Laura Facciolo, mother and scientific advisor of the Mamme No PFAS group, Veneto, Italy
• Dutch Longfonds and European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA) – Dr. Anne Leendertse
• Phyto-Victimes, Association nationale d’aide aux professionnels victimes des pesticides – Julien Guillard, Vice Président
• Ella Roberta Family Foundation – Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, video (UK)
• Human rights, children’s rights – Baskut Tuncak, former UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, and director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI)

Setting the scene on EU Zero Pollution Action Plan: Genon Jensen, Executive Director, HEAL

Followed by a moderated discussion with key questions from moderator, and questions from online audience.

Reaction from European Commission – Veronica Manfredi, Director, DG Environment