Lockdown restrictions responding to the Covid-19 pandemic led to reductions in air pollution in cities across Europe. This study uses a novel approach to assess the effects of different lockdown measures on four pollutants. The researchers say that nitrogen dioxide and particulates reduced significantly, particularly in response to school and workplace closures and stay-at-home measures. Click here to read more
Air
The European Environment Agency is the authoritative source for reliable, comparable and objective data on pollution across Europe.
The regulation will address the negative consequences of POPs in waste and in material that could be recovered from it.
Agricultural packaging impacts the environmental performance of food. This study compares the carbon footprint (CF), of two commonly used containers for international road transport of fruit and vegetables. The study assesses corrugated cardboard boxes (CCB) and polypropylene foldable boxes (PPB) in two different sizes, for a cradle-to-grave assessment of their environmental performance when used to transport tomatoes from Spain to Germany. Click here to read more
Corrected Link: Green Public Procurement (GPP) News Alert - July 2021 issue
The key deliverable of the EU-Japan Summit was the Green Alliance – the first of its kind. The Alliance has a very strong environmental dimension reflecting the overall spirit of the European Green Deal and DG ENV top priorities. As such, it includes a joint commitment to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, circular economy, sustainable supply chains and the global plastics agreement. The intention is to deepen green cooperation with Japan, to make it more visible and promote the green agenda together at a global level.
The plan is a key deliverable of the European Green Deal and sets out an overarching, integrated vision for achieving by 2050: a world where pollution is reduced to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and natural ecosystems, whilst respecting our planetary boundaries. In addition, as pollution does not stop at borders and as the EU acknowledges that it is both the victim and the source of pollution, the Action Plan foresees reinforced external efforts. These inter alia include transboundary water cooperation; restricting exports of products and waste that cause harm in the third countries; better control of trade in e-waste as well as a global initiative on the export of end-of-life vehicles.
Weather variables and air pollution may favour COVID-19 pandemic transmission, leading to a higher number of deaths, finds a new study conducted in Northern Italian cities during the first lockdown of 2020, when all non-essential activities ceased. The researchers paired data on COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs), in Milan, Trento and Florence, alongside weather variables and air pollution data for the first wave of the pandemic to establish if the water content of the air (humidity), temperature or air pollution1, were positively or negatively correlated to the high numbers of COVID-19 patients in ICU admissions. Click here to read more