Europe aims for greener cities

A new strategy based on improving the urban environment has been launched by the European Commission this week, in a attempt to help Europe’s cities tackle green issues. As part of the 6th Environmental Action Programme, the proposed strategy is aimed at boosting the implementation of the EU’s green directives and legislation among local authorities and promoting good environmental practice.

The strategy looks at areas such as air quality, traffic pollution, waste management and urban sprawl, and proposes actions including training programmes, a knowledge exchange system for best practice and online resources.

“Europe’s cities should be sustainable and offer a high quality of life so that people want to live and work in them and businesses want to invest there,” said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. “The Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment works with Member States to help regional and local authorities learn from one another about measures that are particularly effective in improving the environmental performance of our cities.”

Four out of five European citizens now live in towns and cities, a fact that underlines the need for progressive action on the urban environment.