Dear members,
A European petition launched by HEAL, EEB, CAN Europe, and WWF today calls on governments to protect citizens’ health and the environment by adopting a European environmental standards document called the ‘revised LCP BREF’.
The petition also demands that governments protect their citizens’ health by imposing strict limits on toxic pollution from coal. Please find below our press release (also available in German) below.
What can you do to support us this week?
- Sign the petition, which is available is available in English, German, Italian, and Polish, and will soon be available in French and Spanish. A version specifically targeted at the UK can also be found online.
- Share the petition and our press release with your own organization, members, and networks.
- Share the petition online via social media. Please find below a set of sample messages for you to use for this purpose.
Many thanks for your support!
Best wishes,
Ivonne
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Sample social media messages
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- Effective #AirPollution limits save lives! Demand your government cuts toxic coal & sign our petition: http://bit.ly/2oEkW0X #EndCoal
- Coal pollution is toxic! Call on your government to protect our health & environment now bit.ly/2oEkW0X #EndCoal
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Press Release
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European petition demands government action to slash toxic coal deaths
4 April 2017, Brussels, Belgium – Effective air pollution limits could save more than 20,000 lives every year, yet some national governments are threatening to veto EU measures to tackle toxic pollution.
A European petition launched today calls on governments to protect citizens’ health and the environment by adopting a European environmental standards document called the ‘revised LCP BREF’. The petition also demands that governments protect their citizens’ health by imposing strict limits on toxic pollution from coal.
A recent report [1] has shown how new pollution limits could help reduce the annual number of premature deaths caused by burning coal from 22,900 to 2,600 deaths.
The new standards are the result of years of negotiations between government, industry and NGO representatives. Their adoption was expected to be a formality but pressure from industry has led various Member States to threaten to veto the new rules at the final hurdle. [2]
Major European environmental groups the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and WWF have teamed up with campaigning organisationWeMove.EU to launch the petition. The petition is available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish, it will be delivered to national governments a week before a crucial vote by national governments at an EU Committee meeting on April 28.
More information:
- [1] See:Lifting Europe’s Dark Cloud: How cutting coal saves lives & country-specific factsheets.
- [2] Aleaked letter revealed that a group of five countries wrote to Commissioner Vella in September last year demanding that the revised LCP BREF be further delayed. Ministers from the UK, Poland, Czech Republic, Finland and Greece wrote that there was a need to avoid a “disproportionate financial cost or technical burden on industry”. Yet updating the standards is already more than two years behind schedule and the delay in implementing them has already led to more than 54,000 additional deaths and almost €150 billion in associated health costs – a burden on taxpayers all over Europe. In fact, the public benefits will be significantly higher because the standards will also apply to more than 2,000 other non-coal Large Combustion Plants in the EU and will also set stricter discharge limits for water pollutants.
- A Q&A about the LCP BREF is available onlinehere.
- The petition is available inEnglish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Polish.
- The press release is available inEnglish and German.
About the organisations behind the petition:
WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home – whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere.
The European Environmental Bureau is the largest federation of environmental citizens’ organisations in Europe. It currently consists of over 150 member organisations in more than 30 countries (virtually all EU Member States plus some accession and neighbouring countries), including a growing number of European networks, and representing some 15 million individual members and supporters. The EEB stand for environmental justice, sustainable development and participatory democracy. Our aim is to ensure the EU secures a healthy environment and rich biodiversity for all.
The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) is a leading European not-for-profit organisation addressing how the environment affects health in the European Union (EU). We demonstrate how policy changes can help protect health and enhance people’s quality of life. HEAL has more than 70 member organisations, representing networks of health professionals, non-profit health insurers, patients, citizens, women, youth and environmental experts working at the international, EU, national and local level. Together, we help to bring independent expertise and evidence from the health community to different decision-making processes.
WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world’s biological diversity ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption The European Policy Office contributes to the achievement of WWF’s global mission by leading the WWF network to shape EU policies impacting on the European and global environment.
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe is Europe’s largest coalition working on climate and energy issues. With over 130 member organisations in more than 30 European countries – representing over 44 million citizens – CAN Europe works to prevent dangerous climate change and promote sustainable climate and energy policy in Europe.