The European Green Deal and its zero pollution agenda set ambitious goals to safeguard nature, the climate and people’s health. Reducing and preventing pollution improves quality of life and prevents illness. Some would argue that this is too costly. But it is done to protect ecosystems that our societies depend on and to protect our own health. Both in the case of ecosystem health and people’s health, it is far cheaper and much more effective to prevent damage than to repair it. It is simply a good investment for the future – and something that the polluters should pay for.
The EEA integrates knowledge about the environment, climate and society. Together with our expert network, the Eionet, we connect the dots between data and information on nature, the climate and the societal systems of energy, food, mobility and the built environment. One example of such work is the ‘European environment and health atlas’, which allows users to check the quality of their local environment and explore individual and combined health risks. Such analysis makes the link between environment and well-being very clear. Improving the state of our environment and mitigating climate change delivers both direct and indirect benefits for everyone in Europe.
