There’s plenty to be worried about when it comes to the environment. On Debating Europe, we’ve had comments from people worried about everything from climate change, to biodiversity, air pollution, GMOs, fracking, deforestation and plastic waste. There’s seemingly no end to the list of issues threatening the well-being of the planet.
Climate change is obviously in the news a lot these days (though rarely for the right reasons). We’ve been following developments closely with several debates on the Paris Agreement, and you can see our full list of debates on environmental issues in our Greener Europe channel. But are there other issues we’re missing? Should we be focusing more on biodiversity? Or air pollution? Or is climate change such an all-consuming issue that it’s right to have that top of the agenda? Which issues are you most concerned about?
We recently spoke to Céline Charveriat, Executive Director at Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). What would she say are the biggest environmental challenges facing Europe?
We had a comment from Yannick, who is very skeptical that governments will be able to cooperate to fix global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. After the recent decision by the US to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, there is every reason to be pessimistic about the ability of governments to cooperate on the environment. But are there also reasons for optimism?
To get a response we spoke to Pieter de Pous, Policy Director at European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a federation of environmental organisations from all across Europe. We asked him how Europe can solve its biggest environmental challenges:
Which environmental issues are you most worried about? And are you confident that EU countries can work together to find solutions? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts!
IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – Etienne
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141 comments Post a commentcomment
Politicians are polluting the EU with their existence.
Humans :)
bitte macht auch eine deutsche seite!
die gibt es: ganz oben kann man zwischen EN / DE (English/Deutsch) waehlen!
Uncontrolled Refugee entry.
the american one !!
Michael Gove
The military worldwide.
Nuclear and all the nuclear waste.
The spraying of toxic chemicals on us from high altitude, namely aluminium sulphate.
Illegal inmigration favored by NGOs and the Italian authorities doing nothing to stop it.
No respect for the earth, and the people ,animals, and oceans
Closing of nuclear plants, the only ones that can produce large quantities of reliable clean energy anywhere.
Massive population growth and simultaneously increasing consumption in developing countries – especially in India and Africa.
Climate change
My foot.
Animal parks and the ocean
CO2 emissions, plastic debris in the seas
Is it ?
I think we need to do more pressure over school programs in order to prepare our children to have a critical perspective. Climate change is real, and industrial societies of ocidental Europe don’t care about it.
Dangerous chimical in our food from crazy agriculture.
without chemicals, agriculture is less effective, and would cause mass starvation.
For sure, starvation for the shareholders of the agro-food industries. more than 70% of world food production is not from them. So ? 30% of waste food or venenous food (obesity), so ?
Fukushima.
It’s not an issue media make people believe it is. For example, one could drink nothing but that “contaminated” groundwater for a year and get only an equivalent of one pelvic X-ray of radiation.
all!
The myth that is ‘climate change’.
Climate Change always existed. MMCC (Man Made climate change) is the Myth, our at least unscientifically exaggerated.
I am worried about terrorist-ecologists who threaten Poland.
climate change, the most difficult to deal with
All
Recycling toxic UK political waste…. So much of it…
Geoengineering – weather manipulations – stop it
Idiocracy
Weather manipulation, especially that of the tropospheric water streams.
All !
Deceitful politicians!
There is no other kind
Birthcontrol in Afrika and muslimcountries, they cannot afford 10 till 20 children and more than 1 wife. So sterilise all men in these countries after having 2 children per man! Then a lot of issues will be solved within 20 years!
First and foremost its political issues…. if europe sorts them out then environmental ixsues will be a piece of cake
Oil, petrol, petrol chemicals etc weve been able to make bioplastics and fuels from Hemp since the 1940s, and were still ignoring it???
global warning
Relifascist bigots
This is not an environmental issue.
yes it is. MMCC is full of religious fascists, anti-science.
How can you stop refugees if you continue bombarding!
Irak unfinished job
Syria unfinished job
Lybia unfinished job
Afganistan unifinished job
Yemen unfinished job
In addition to al this Somalia, Eriteria and Negeria and Mali…
And maybe tomorrow Iran or North korea.
The thing is that there will always be refugees always because the world is an ugly place to live. We live in a jungle.
But when we talk about environement, we have to admit that countries like China, USA, Western Europe are the biggest threat to our planet. Not what you call the thirld world countries.
Plastic waste and GMOs.
hoje na europa, o maior problema do ambiente, sao os islamicos, a falta de respeito por qualquer coisa que nao seja o corao, os ataques cobardes que perpetuam, as doencas que trazem consigo
All are important but the 80 to 100 meters of sea level rise from global warming is going to be an enormous catastrophe for Europe (or what’s left of it)
specially in Holland and Belgian coast …..
Very True Netherlands is already below sea level – Can they add 100 meters to the sea wall ? ;-)
Plastic !
monsanto and other invisible us. corporations trying to manipulate our democracies with their invisibie lobbying. all lobbying, whether of domestic governments or eu parliamentarians should be in front of the public. i am voting green green green in the next euro elections.
Humans !!
global warming for sure
CO2 demonization. This ridiculous BS has to stop immediately so we can focus on things that DO matter.
Ce bine ar fi sa tina cont toata lumea de acest lucru!!
Geo-engineering (chemtrails) which we’re seeing above our heads here in Belgium almost everyday now.
Kan ik me ook aan ergeren dat de mens zijn eigen vuil nog niet opruimt , zelfs hier zo, n kleine omgeving
Kan ik me ook aan ergeren dat de mens zijn eigen vuil nog niet opruimt , zelfs hier zo, n kleine omgeving
Kan ik me ook aan ergeren dat de mens zijn eigen vuil nog niet opruimt , zelfs hier zo, n kleine omgeving
Kan ik me ook aan ergeren dat de mens zijn eigen vuil nog niet opruimt , zelfs hier zo, n kleine omgeving
all of them
specially the Nuclear Plants in Belgium – i know the are not clean or in good shape – thats why they never talk about them . Holland & Germany has already warned Belgium about the issue …….go figure
New plants are forbidden by the political-correct establishment.
Neo-renewables aren’t even enough for cooking alone, even at their theoretical maximum.
Nuclear power is massively imported from France, but the cables have their maximum.
Going for the #blackout.
Goverment subsidized “solutions” that make everything worse than it was before.
Pollution: coal energy plants, industry and farming (those modern fertilazers and antibiotics for animals).
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Geo-engineering.
…aka “chemtrails”.
traitors of europe cause more mess than all environmental issus put togheter
Energy production and textile industry
Human Poverty and Injustice of the Mafia’s governing this Planet.
> Too much attention for not sustainable sun/wind energy and too little for clean nuclear power.
the -so called- refugees…
Over-fishing!
I think number 1 priority is the air polution, how we switch to clean emmiters like electric cars and how we power them, the second is water pollution, it is fumdamental fpr the survival of the flora and fauna ams thus our own, that we clean thw oceans, rivers and lakes, after this, 3) effective garbage disposal and recycling programs, still underdeveloped even in vanguard countries as the netherlands
Deforestation and palm oil
There are too many, but maybe the water management.
Too many…Lebanese government causing pollution in the Mediterranean and the Cyprus sea/beaches will be affectes… toxic air, we should switch to electric cars aa soon as they become cheap..healthier organic veghies to be afgirdable…harvesting natural resources..maybe even supporting the vast empty or uncultivated lands of Afric…
Planting evergreen trees….we should encourage aborists to help and cut down the deforesting of trees
Animal wellbeing and their ever shrinking habitat
Climate changing, species extinction, water polution, deforestation, erosion. By that order.
http://www.armecofront.net/en/news/funding-construction-of-new-landfill-without-recycling-facilities-is-not-acceptable-in-the-age-of-human-caused-climate-crisis/
We’re are killing the oceans. The oceans die, we die. That simple.
Capitalism anti enviromental culture.
all.
Plastic pollution
Why does your post always ask a question? Annoying
24hour WiFi everywhere, I think the cancer risk is not yet fully explored. Apart from that some generation is going to pay for all the nuclear waste. Not the only issues obviously. Probably the most dangerous issue is profitability ;)
When will the EU pay Britain for holding nuclear waste?
Plastics everywhere, products that break down in 2-3 years, gigatons of carbon taken from the depths of the planet and put into the atmosphere, tax havens, inequality of capital and labor in the economic system… just to mention the top ones.
Deport
The fake narrative of climate change being linked to ‘real’ environment problems.
https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
Air pollution
All the issues, climate change, deforestation, destruction of wildlife habitat, waste management.
Plastic waste.
…. all of them. I have small kids, i’d appreciate if they could have, you know, a planet to grow in.
The socialists.
❤️
And Muslims.
The ignorants.
Overpopulation, plastic wastes. While it would be comon sense to stop importing people, favorize links with countries which adopt a responsible demographic policy, and make returnable glass bottles mandatory while forbiding plastic bottles, the fear comes from the “all for the profit” ongoing policy, that maximize lethal consumption and demographic growth in the only aim of shareholders benefits growth. These are just examples.
I don’t worry about things I can’t change.
But if you ask what biggest problem is I could tell you that it’s increasing price of living due “green solutions”
> You are recycling? Great, here is waste tax increase for you cause you know, management of those separate containers cost money
> You like idea of renewable resources? Great, here is increased price of electricity for you cause you know, windmills and solar farms will not built themselves, and business needs dotations (renewable energy is not self sustaining)
> You are saving water? Good for you, and now take this increased water price, cause consumption is record low and water providing companies loose huge profits.
so damn true! thanks for spelling it out!
Roundup being spread all around. GMOs, plastic, pollution of rivers and air…
The carbon tax
famine. yes, famine. we take it for granted that edible things grow in the ground and we just have to pick them. what if things don’t grow because of the lack of water, too much sun, too many storms and cyclones destroying agriculture, etc.
Problema sau cauza de mediu climatic este doar una; Embargou de protejare climatica;stoparea comercializarii de aer de tara ori regiune;Stoparea taierilor forestiere de padure sanatoasa;Izolarea cladirilor antitermic;Electrificarea transportului turistic si urban.Termocentrale cu resurse reziduale de gunoi menajer cu filtre de precizie la emisii.Taxe mari pe motoarele Diesel cu descurajarea traficului urban-taxe de congestie urbana si interurbana cu limita anuala de consum impus de cota per familie.Plasticul,toxic-eliminat.Transportul maritim,cote si impuneri monitorizate;Chimia,omg-ul si detergentii toxici pentru apa si om.Zootehnia si rezidurile-reformate de biogaz.Gunoiul menajer si reciclarea selectiv-regenerabila.
goverment
I agree with the World Economic Forum who is mostly concerned about the following five environmental risks: Extreme weather events, Natural disasters, Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation, Man-made environmental disasters and Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse. These make it to the top 10 geopolitical, economic, societal, technological or environmental risks humanity faces in terms of likelihood and impact in 2018.
See the full report here http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GRR18_Report.pdf
Close dawn the plastic factory.
Smog
Kas bambali pamete!?
Lina M. Rodríguez
i’d say plastics in the waters of the world
Deforestation
tn maliwn sou?
Air pollutio n garbage problem
Air pollutio n garbage problem
Air pollutio n garbage problem
Drought and land desertification
Health of our oceans is now at a critical level and there is no international agreement on how to fix.
Diesel engines & fine particle dust
general pollution, see land & air. probably the sea wins though.
Govt. Agencies
the illegal immigrants
Smog and Carbon related issues, followed by ocean waste. Also we really are still recycling babies and we need to become adults, fast
Non biodegradable plastic waste filling up the land and sea. Plastic bags should be banned.
Nuclear + Radiation + all packaging + all PLASTIC + all Industry + all Motors + all hydro carburant fuels + all 1-use-only + all Mass Production
Consumerism + lack of Humility and Moderation + Promiscuity …
IT IS
NOT GOOD FOR DEBATING ENVIRONMENTS
Al the types of environmental issues are in danger.
I care about deforestation. Deforestation has many negative consequences for the environment. Forests are very important for people’s lives. The main consequence of deforestation is climate change on the planet. Mass deforestation leads to animal death or complete disappearance. Les is our filter. Without a forest, not only animals, but also humans will begin to die. That’s why it’s so important for us to pay attention to this problem. We need to create actions to make people plant trees
https://treasury.gov/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi/?www.dz4link.com/mpggm