Anthropogenic pollution undermines the integrity of Earth’s ecosystems and severely affects natural resources essential for human life. Keeping our planet clean and our ecosystems healthy will not only help addressing the climate crisis but also help regenerate biodiversity, ensure the sustainability of primary production activities and safeguard the well-being of humankind. In line with the objectives of the European Green Deal and related initiatives targeting environmental challenges, particularly the EU zero pollution action plan, the 2030 climate target plan, and other relevant EU legislation, this destination seeks to halt and prevent pollution by focusing on:

• removing pollution from fresh and marine waters, soils, air, including from nitrogen and phosphorus emissions;
• substituting harmful chemicals;
• improving the environmental sustainability and circularity of bio-based systems;
• reducing environmental impacts of and pollution in food systems.

Synergies with other clusters (notably 1 for health issues and 5 for air pollution from urban sources), relevant destinations, missions (particularly ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’) and partnerships will be exploited.

Topics under the heading Halting pollution of air, soil and water aim to identify and demonstrate approaches to combat diffuse emissions of pollutants from land and other sources. In this context, keeping nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles in balance is a major challenge. N and P flows from anthropogenic sources, mostly from excessive or inefficient input of fertilisers (manure, sewage sludge, etc.) in agriculture and from waste water treatments, currently exceed planetary boundaries. Their leaching and run-off negatively affect soil biodiversity, pH, organic matter concentration and carbon sequestration capacity, and cause the eutrophication of water bodies while ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions affect air quality and climate. As all environmental compartments are concerned, a systemic approach is needed to limit N/P emissions from different sources, and to bring N/P flows back within safe ecological boundaries, e.g. by improving the way fertilising products in agriculture are managed while taking into account regional conditions. Actions will include showcasing best practices to recover nutrients from secondary raw materials in order to produce alternative fertilisers and demonstrating pathways for regions to keep their N/P flows within ecological boundaries.

Topics under Protecting drinking water and managing urban water pollution seek to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive framework bringing together new innovative solutions and approaches to ensure drinking water is of a good quality, address urban water pollution and harmonise different policies and management approaches. Actions should explore solutions to increase the resilience of urban waste water systems, reducing the carbon footprint and emissions, improve resource efficiency and energy recovery, and limit risks from contaminants of emerging concern. An integrated strategy to harmonise and update monitoring with prioritisation for comprehensive control of urban water cycles should be developed by harnessing the potential of digital solutions.

Topics under Addressing pollution in seas and ocean strive to fill knowledge gaps about risks and impacts of pollution from contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment (in particular pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors) including in the context of the changing marine environment due to changes in the climate system. They will further develop and test solutions for the integrated assessment and monitoring of the circulation and impacts of contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment, in order to help implement EU policies and legislation, e.g. the Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Actions should also explore the role of pollution in intensifying impacts related to climate change, including in the Arctic, resulting in solutions and strategies to help ecosystems and human communities adapt as regards the changes in the Arctic.

Topics under Increasing the environmental sustainability and circularity of bio-based processes and products look at developing bio-based solutions for environmental monitoring and remediation as well as the concept of integrating sustainability and circularity into bio-based systems. This concept also includes bio-based chemicals, additives and materials solutions contributing to carbon removal objectives, the chemicals strategy for sustainability (CSS strategy) and the development of safe- and -sustainable-by-design materials and products.

Furthermore, topics under the heading Reducing the environmental impact and pollution of food systems focus on increasing our knowledge of the soil, water and air pollution stemming from different food production and supply practices and providing opportunities to reduce environmental and climate impacts of food systems. This also includes preventing and reducing plastic pollution stemming from plastic food packaging.

Expected impact

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway that helps to halt and eliminate pollution to guarantee clean and healthy soils, air, fresh and marine water for all and ensure that natural resources are used and managed in a sustainable and circular manner. To reach this objective, it will be vital to advance the knowledge of pollution sources and pathways to enable preventive measures to be rolled out, improve sustainability and circularity, apply planetary boundaries in practice and introduce effective remediation methods. To this end, the following is required:

• move towards achieving clean, unpolluted surface water and groundwater bodies in the EU and Associated Countries by increasing understanding of diffuse and point sources of water pollution in a global and climate change context, enabling novel solutions to avoid degradation and restore water bodies, aquatic ecosystems and soil functionality, and further improve the quality and management of water for safe human and ecological use, while strengthening the EU’s and Associated Countries’ positions and roles in the global water scene;
• balance N/P flows within safe ecological boundaries at regional and local level, helping restore ecosystems;
• move towards achieving clean, unpolluted oceans and seas, including in the Arctic, by means of successful scientific, technological, behavioural, socio-economic, governance and green-blue transitions;
• strengthen circular bio-based systems to operate within planetary boundaries, replacing fossil-based systems and their carbon footprint, mitigating climate change, and restoring biodiversity and protecting air, water and soil quality along the supply chain of biological feedstocks and industrial value chains within the EU and Associated Countries and across borders;
• substitute harmful chemicals for safer and more sustainable alternatives, notably by boosting innovative biotechnology and other sustainable technologies to create zero-pollution bio-based solutions;
• reduce the environmental impact of food systems, e.g. by increasing knowledge of the environmental and climate impacts stemming from the food systems and reducing pollution from plastic food packaging.

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