Pollution harms our health and our environment. It is the largest environmental cause of multiple mental and physical diseases and of premature deaths, especially among children, people with certain medical conditions and the elderly. It is also one of the main reasons for the loss of biodiversity.

The zero pollution vision for 2050 is for air, water and soil pollution to be reduced to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems. It includes a series of 2030 targets to speed up reducing pollution at source.

On 12 May 2021, the European Commission adopted the Zero Pollution Action Plan: "Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil" - a key deliverable of the European Green Deal.

View of the Staudinger black coal power plant, coal stacks, in Grosskrotzenburg, near Francfurt, Germany.