Reduce by 2050 air, water and soil pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems and that respect the boundaries our planet can cope with, thus creating a toxic-free environment, including through reducing by 50% the sale of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture, phase out mercury, reduce emissions of air pollutants and set environmental quality standards for priority hazardous substances in water.

Overview (target 7):

The Zero Pollution Action Plancontains the overall target of reducing by 2050 air, water and soil pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems and that respect the boundaries our planet can cope with, thus creating a toxic-free environment. 

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability proposes measures to further phase out the most harmful chemicals, like endocrine disruptors and persistent substances. 

Main legislation in place (non-exhaustive):

The EU has a comprehensive chemicals framework comprising of more than 40 legislative instruments, of which the most important are listed below: 

The Regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals (REACH) is the main EU law to protect human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals and gave way to a large number of secondary legislation.   

The Biocidal Products Regulation concerns the making available on the market and use of biocidal products. 

The Recast Regulation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) lays down rules on persistent organic pollutants.

The Industrial Emissions Directive lays down rules on integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from industrial activities, as well as rules to prevent or reduce emissions into air, water and land and to prevent the generation of waste. The Revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive aims to improve the Directive’s effectiveness in preventing or minimising the emissions of pollutants by agro-industrial installations at source and supports the transition towards the use of safer or less toxic chemicals, amongst others.

The Mercury Regulation establishes measures and conditions concerning the use and storage of and trade in mercury, mercury compounds and mixtures of mercury, and the manufacture and use of and trade in mercury-added products, and the management of mercury waste. The revision of the Mercury Regulation sets out rules as regards dental amalgam and other mercury-added products subject to manufacturing, import and export restrictions.

The Water Framework Directive establishes a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwaters. It sets, inter alia, environmental Quality Standards for priority and priority hazardous substances in water.

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (including Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848) establishes a framework within which Member States shall take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment.

The Recast Drinking Water Directive aims to protect human health from the adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption and includes provisions on e.g. monitoring pollutants and establishing the minimum requirements on materials that come into contact with drinking water (Article 11). 

The Seveso III Directive lays down rules for the prevention of major accidents which involve dangerous substances, and the limitation of their consequences for human health and the environment.

The National Emissions Reduction Commitments Directive establishes the emission reduction commitments for the Member States' anthropogenic atmospheric emissions of SO2, NOx, NMVOC, NH3 and PM2,5. Article 9 on monitoring air pollution impacts on ecosystems is of particular relevance.

The European Industrial Emission Portal Regulation sets out rules on the reporting of environmental data from industrial installations.    

The Regulation on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products aims to establish a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products.

The revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive includes a requirement for the removal of a broad spectrum of micro-pollutants (substances or their breakdown products considered hazardous to human health or the environment, as set out in Part 3 and Part 4 of Annex I to the REACH Regulation) from urban wastewaters by means of quaternary treatment.

The revision of the Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals aims to clarify the rules on labelling chemical substances and the required information for chemicals sold online.

Legislation proposed (non-exhaustive):

The Commission proposal on water pollutants aims to improve the environmental quality of European freshwaters and protect the environment from the adverse effects of hazardous chemicals and air pollution. 

The Commission proposal for a Regulation establishing a common data platform on chemicals, the Commission proposal for a Regulation on the re-attribution of scientific and technical tasks and improving cooperation among Union agencies and the Commission proposal for a Directive on the re-attribution of scientific and technical tasks to the European Chemicals Agency as part of the one-substance one-assessment package aim to streamline assessments of chemicals across EU legislation; strengthen the knowledge base on chemicals; and ensure early detection and action on emerging chemical risks.

Other policy instruments (non-exhaustive):

The Zero Pollution Action Plan (see implementation of actions) includes specific targets such as reducing by 50% the use of more hazardous pesticides and the sale of antimicrobials for farm animals and in aquaculture by 2030.

The first Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook offers a snapshot of the current state of the pollution in the EU and shows the progress made thus far on the 2030 zero pollution targets.

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (see implementation of actions) aims to better protect citizens and the environment from harmful chemicals, and boost innovation by promoting the use of safer and more sustainable chemicals.

The Commission Recommendation for safe and sustainable chemicals aims to promote research and innovation for safer and more sustainable chemicals and materials.

EU Biodiversity Strategy, in particular the following actions in the EU Biodiversity Strategy Actions Tracker:  

Target 10: Significant progress in the remediation of contaminated soil sites. 

• Action 49: Zero Pollution Action Plan for Air, Water and Soil
• Action 50: EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability

The Pharmaceuticals Strategy includes actions for high quality, safe and environmentally sustainable medicines.

The Transition Pathway for the Textiles ecosystem, co-created with stakeholders, identifies 50 specific actions to make the textiles ecosystem greener, more digital and to ensure its long-term resilience and competitiveness. 

This EU contribution aligns with GBF Target 7, the element on reducing pollution from all sources.

Together with other EU contributions, this EU contribution contributes to the EU implementation of Targets 4 and 10.

For financing and capacity-building, please refer to the EU contributions to Targets 19 and 20.