Polish business, scientists team up against air pollution, climate change

Major Polish businesses, scientists and environmentalists pledged to boost cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – a set of objectives for environmentally friendly and socially inclusive development, adopted last year in New York.

At an event held by UN Environment and Grid-Warsaw centre today, participants called for concrete public-private partnerships, to make the environment-related goals a reality for the Polish citizens.

Findings from UN Environment’s sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO6) report for the pan European region provide a detailed picture of the state of the environment and serve as a ‘instruction manual’, listing priority areas for joint action.

According to GEO6, poor air quality, climate change, unhealthy lifestyles and the disconnect between people and the environment are increasingly affecting human health in the pan European region, including Poland. Last year’s study by the European Environment Agency estimated that air pollution in Poland caused up to 44,600 premature deaths each year – one of the highest numbers in Europe.

Resource use in the region is also reaching unsustainable levels, owing to the overuse of natural resources.

“If everyone were to live the European lifestyle, it would take four planets to support us”, said Jan Dusik, Regional Director of UN Environment; “The Global Environment Outlook assessment for the pan-European region – the first of its kind – highlights how the transition to an inclusive green economy must build on: clean production systems, healthy consumption choices, resilient ecosystems and sound management of chemicals.”

“Pledges, such as the one of today, where the private sector and the public authorities decide to work in partnership on consumption habits are very promising. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will only materialize through joint actions, practical decisions for the country and its people”, Mr Dusik concluded.

Against this background, Poland and the pan-European region are making efforts to green their economies, pioneering solutions where economic performance, environmental quality, and human well-being go hand in hand with reduced use of natural resources.

Despite the concept of circular economy gaining ground, the progress is too slow and a massive reshaping of the current production and consumption models will be needed to achieve the global goals.

Other urgent environmental issues highlighted by the GEO6 report, which provide a road-map for national and local actions in Poland, include:

Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation is continuing in the region driven particularly by intensification of agriculture, urbanization and splitting of habitats. Biodiversity decline is particularly high in Eastern and Western Europe, with lower rates in Central Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asian countries.

Change of land-use is leading to the deterioration of soils, causing water and air pollution. Soils are also under threat from climate change, erosion, contamination, salinization, floods and landslides, which in turn threaten food and nutrition security.

The loss of green areas in cities is exacerbating climate change effects and has, in some cases, negatively impacted the physical and mental health and cognitive development of children.

The region stands to gain EUR 1.8 trillion by improving the circularity of products and materials, for example through remanufacturing and extending product life-cycles through re-use, refurbishment and advanced waste management schemes. In the European Union alone, an expanding circular economy has the potential to create 1.2 to 3 million jobs.

Overall, living within planetary boundaries in the pan-European region will require fundamental transitions in energy, food, mobility and urban systems and will involve profound changes in predominant institutions, practices, technologies, policies and lifestyles. New governance coalitions involving national and subnational levels of government, businesses and citizens are urgently needed.