Commissioner Roswall's speech at the 9th meeting of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, partners, friends.

Welcome to the launch of the renewed Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform.

Let me especially welcome Henna Partanen, the new co-chair of the Platform – you are joining at an important moment.

I look forward to your ideas on how we can take this Platform to the next level.

I am also thrilled that the Committee of the Regions has renewed its commitment to work with us after five years of fruitful cooperation.

Today is the 9th meeting of the Platform. But also the first meeting of the new Platform.

A continuation and a new page at the same time.

New members, new observers and a new agenda.

The same commitment, with new ideas and new energy – and I am excited about the potential.

When the Commission announced the Zero Pollution Action Plan in 2021, we set out a bold agenda for cleaner air, water, oceans and soil.

Well, we have made important progress – including better reporting, and new legislation on air quality, water pollution, soil monitoring and industrial emissions.

The European Environment Agency and the Joint Research Centre presented the first Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook in 2022 and are updating it every two years.

I understand you will get a sneak preview of the next edition later today.

In January, the Commission's own mid-term review of the Zero Pollution Action Plan pointed to real gains.

The use and risk of pesticides have decreased.

But the same review also told us something else.

Waste trends are not improving fast enough.

Microplastics are moving in the wrong direction.

On top of that, other challenges have become more prominent.

For example, the scale and magnitude of pollution from ‘forever chemicals' or PFAS and other chemical pollutants is very worrying.

And what about smoke from wildfires this summer? How many premature deaths has it caused? What chronic disease will it contribute to? And how do we respond if and when wildfire smoke continues to grow and spread?