The Wallonia Government approved two projects related to environmental health as part of its Covid-19 recovery plan on Thursday. The plan includes the preparation of a decree for indoor air quality and the amplification of a plan aiming to study and limit environmental risks to human health.
More than €11 million are released for these measures, as environmental factors are responsible for 15% of premature deaths linked to chronic diseases in the European Union, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Such environmental factors include indoor and outdoor air, harmful substances such as pesticides, polluted soil, unhealthy water, and noise pollution.
Indoor air quality
In specific, the decree aims to improve indoor air quality through the adoption of a rigorous administrative framework and an adequate distribution of roles, responsibilities and means among the concerned actors.
The government will adopt guiding and intervention values relating to the indoor environment, both for indoor air quality and for exposure to electromagnetic waves.
Environmental health
A total budget of €5.3 million is also planned for the amplification of the ENVIeS 2019-2023 plan and its sustainability beyond 2023. This environment-health plan includes five areas of work, ranging from raising awareness to support for research through training or the implementation of management tools.
Finally, to develop concrete solutions, €6 is set apart for the coordination, management and financing of the Walloon Provincial Interior Environment Analysis Services which was threatened with closure.
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“The impact of the quality of our environment on our health is indisputable today. Preserving our air, our water, our soil, our food and even our ears also makes it possible to improve our quality of life, even to significantly reduce premature deaths,” said Walloon Environment Minister Céline Tellier.
“Through these various projects, we are strengthening the legal framework and providing ourselves with concrete means to act.”
