EU set to miss 2030 pollution reduction targets, data shows
Despite progress in reducing air pollution, pesticide use and plastic waste at sea, "much stronger action is necessary" to reach targets set for reducing noise, microplastic releases into the environment, nutrient pollution and waste generation, a press release said.
"European citizens want clean air, water and soil and safe chemicals so that their health and their environment are protected," said EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall.
"Only timely and ambitious delivery of our policies will allow us to create a better living environment for all," she added.
The share of people chronically disturbed by transport noise is to be reduced by 30 percent by 2030 according to the EU's goals, however, a 2 percent reduction has been achieved since 2017.
Residual municipal waste is to be halved and has dropped by 1.5 percent since 2018.
The release of microplastics into the environment has risen by about 7 percent to 9 percent since 2016, instead of going down by 30 percent by 2030.
"Action to curb consumption and to reduce waste – which are the ultimate drivers of environmental pressures – and to promote a circular economy is crucial if we are to make progress towards our goals," said Leena Yla-Mononen, the EEA's executive director.
The 2030 targets are part of the EU's ambition to reduce pollution so that it no longer poses a risk to human health and the environment by 2050. (DPA-Yonhap)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
15 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Trump eyes air support for Ukraine, no US ground troops
WASHINGTON/LONDON/KYIV (Reuters) -- President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but said the United States might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country. A day after Trump pledged security guarantees to help end the war at an extraordinary White House summit, the path to peace remained uncertain as the US and allies prepared to work out what military support for Ukraine might include. "When it comes to security, (Europeans) are willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably ... by air," Trump said in an interview with the Fox News "Fox & Friends" program. Trump did not elaborate. Later, in an interview with radio host Mark Levin, Trump characterized his negotiating style in trying to end the war as "probably instinct more than process." Following Monday's meeting, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, with 270 drones and 10 missiles launched, the Ukrainian air force said. The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine's only oil refinery. Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal after all, saying, "We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks." The nature of US military aid for Ukraine under a peace deal was unclear. Air support could take many forms, such as missile defense systems or fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that US air support was "an option and a possibility," but, like Trump, she did not provide any details. "The president has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," she said at a news briefing. Analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or wounded in the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the White House talks as a "major step forward" toward ending Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years and setting up a trilateral meeting with Putin and Trump. Zelenskyy's warm rapport with Trump contrasted sharply with their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February. Trump discussed Budapest as a venue for a summit involving Zelenskyy and Putin with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday, a White House official said. Istanbul, where delegations for the two countries have met previously, has also been mentioned, a senior administration official said. Hungary is one of the few European places that Putin could visit without fear of arrest on International Criminal Court charges as Orban maintains close ties with the Russian leader. It was unclear whether Ukraine would accept Hungary as a venue. Neutral Switzerland also said it would be ready to host Putin for any peace talks. "They are in the process of setting it up," Trump told radio host Levin about a Putin/ Zelenskyy meeting. But Trump cast doubt on whether he would attend. "Now I think it would be better if they met without me. ... If necessary, I'll go," he said. Trump, asked by Levin how he balanced the interests of all the parties involved, said, "Well, it's probably instinct more than process. I have instincts." Ukraine's allies held talks in the so-called Coalition of the Willing format on Tuesday, discussing additional sanctions to crank up the pressure on Russia. The grouping has also agreed that planning teams will meet US counterparts in the coming days to develop security guarantees for Ukraine. NATO military leaders were expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine, with US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expected to attend virtually, officials told Reuters. Putin has said Russia will not tolerate troops from the NATO alliance in Ukraine. He has also shown no sign of backing down from demands for territory, including land not under Russia's military control, following his summit with Trump on Friday in Alaska. Neil Melvin, a director at the International Security at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said Russia could drag out the war while trying to deflect US pressure with a protracted peace negotiation. Melvin said both Ukraine and its European allies on one side and Russia on the other were striving "not to present themselves to Trump as the obstacle to his peace process." "They're all tiptoeing around Trump" to avoid any blame, he said, adding that Trump's statements on security guarantees were "so vague it's very hard to take it seriously."
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Korea Herald
KHNP denied access to power plant projects in N. America, Europe under Westinghouse deal: sources
The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has been prohibited from bidding for new power plant projects in North America and the European Union (EU), excluding the Czech Republic, and other countries under its agreement with US energy firm Westinghouse over an intellectual property (IP) dispute, industry sources said Tuesday. Under the agreement signed in January, the KHNP is only allowed to sign fresh deals in the Philippines, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina, Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, according to the sources. But the Korean company is banned from bidding for new nuclear power plant deals in North America and Britain, Japan, Ukraine and EU nations, except for the Czech Republic. The KHNP and Westinghouse signed the settlement deal in January this year after the latter accused the Korean firm of infringing on its IP, claiming the KHNP's APR 1000 and APR1400 plant designs utilize its licensed technology. The deal removed a major hurdle for the KHNP-led Korean consortium to sign a final contract in June, with an estimated value of 26 trillion won, to build two nuclear power units in the Czech Republic. The Czech deal, which marked South Korea's first overseas nuclear power plant contract since 2009, was initially expected to open new doors for Korean firms seeking business opportunities in Europe. Earlier in the day, KHNP President Whang Joo-ho confirmed his company has closed operations in Poland amid speculations that its deal with Westinghouse influenced the decision. Poland is the fourth European country where the KHNP confirmed its business closure, following Sweden, Slovenia and the Netherlands. "After the new Polish administration took office ... the country decided to drop the state-owned enterprise projects (in the nuclear power sector) ... and that is why we withdrew our business there," Whang said during a meeting with the parliamentary industry committee. It also reportedly includes a condition requiring Korean companies to pass the latter's technology independence verification when independently developing and exporting next-generation nuclear reactors. The 50-year deal is also said to include provisions requiring the KHNP to sign a goods and services purchase contract worth about $650 million with Westinghouse per export of a single nuclear reactor, and to pay $175 million per reactor in technology licensing fees. Asked whether the KHNP believes the deal with Westinghouse was fair, Whang said, "As the party accepting the terms, I cannot say it was fair," but added, "I believe it is something we can endure and still make a profit from." Whang refused to confirm the details of the deal, citing a nondisclosure agreement. Earlier in the day, the presidential office said it has ordered the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to review whether the deal was signed under due process. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
Trump begins planning for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting while affirming US help with security guarantees
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he's begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while affirming that the US would back European security guarantees aimed at preventing Moscow from reinvading its neighbor once the current conflict ends. Details of the security guarantees and Trump's efforts to arrange peace talks were still evolving as an extended meeting among Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders wrapped up at the White House. But as they emerged from their talks, the leaders expressed guarded optimism that Trump could be finding momentum in his quest to fulfill his campaign promise of ending the grinding war. The 'most important' outcome of the meeting was the 'US commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees,' French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters. Trump said he would forge ahead with arrangements for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin. He spoke by phone with Putin during Monday's talks with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany and Italy as well as the president of the European Commission and head of NATO. The developments come amid a significant measure of trepidation on the continent that Trump is pressing Ukraine to make concessions that will only further embolden Putin after the US leader hosted the Russian president for an Alaska summit last week. 'I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,' Trump said in a social media post. 'After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.' It was not clear if Putin has fully signed on to such talks. Russia state news agency Tass cited Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov saying Putin and Trump 'spoke in favor' of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. Ushakov said they also discussed 'the idea of raising the level of the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.' Zelenskyy told reporters following the White House meeting that if Russia does 'not demonstrate a will to meet, then we will ask the United States to act accordingly.' NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an appearance on Fox News that 'if Russia is not playing ball' on direct talks with Ukraine, 'the United States plus Europe will do more when it comes to tariffs and sanctions' on Moscow. Zelenskyy previously had said he wanted Russia to agree to a ceasefire before any meeting between himself and Putin, but he said Monday that if the Ukrainians started setting conditions, the Russians would do the same. 'That's why I believe that we must meet without any conditions, and think about what development there can be of this path to the end of war,' Zelenskyy said. Earlier, Trump said during talks with Zelenskyy and the European leaders that a potential ceasefire and who gets Ukrainian territory seized by Russia should be hashed out during a face-to-face meeting between the warring countries' two leaders. 'We're going to let the president go over and talk to the president and we'll see how that works out,' Trump said. That was a shift from comments Trump made soon after meeting Putin last week in which he appeared to tilt toward Putin's demands that Ukraine make concessions over land seized by Russia, which now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. Trump stopped short of committing US troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine's security. He said instead that there would be a 'NATO-like' security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders. Zelenskyy said deep US involvement in the emerging security guarantees is crucial. 'It is important that the United States make a clear signal, namely that they will be among the countries that will help to coordinate and also will participate in security guarantees for Ukraine,' Zelenskyy said. Speaking Monday before the White House meetings took place, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova rejected the idea of a possible NATO peacekeeping force in Ukraine. She said such a scenario could lead to further escalation and 'unpredictable consequences." Trump's engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly different feel to their last Oval Office meeting in February. It was a disastrous moment that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation, and temporarily pausing some aid for Kyiv, after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had shown insufficient gratitude for US military assistance. At the start of Monday's meeting, Zelenskyy presented a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, for Trump's wife, Melania. Zelenskyy faced criticism during his February meeting from a conservative journalist for appearing in the Oval Office in a long-sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in a dark jacket and buttoned shirt. Zelenskyy has said his typically less formal attire since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers. European leaders arrived in Washington looking to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Ahead of Monday's meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion. Zelenskyy in his own post late Sunday, responded, 'We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.' He said 'peace must be lasting,' not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago and 'Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.' European leaders suggested forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table. Following his meeting with Putin on Friday, Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire and said he would look to secure a final peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine — a sudden shift to a position favored by Putin. German and French leaders on Monday praised Trump for opening a path to peace, but they urged the US president to push Russia for an immediate ceasefire. 'I would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump, for his part, reiterated that a broader, war-ending peace agreement between the two countries is 'very attainable," but 'all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.'
