Dear colleagues,
Welcome to the EPHA Environment Network (EEN) Newsletter!
The EEN is a new umbrella platform that brings together health and environment non-governmental organisations from the not-for-profit sector to join up on policy-making at a European level. The secretariat is currently hosted by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), one of EEN’s founding members.
Over the next nine months, both the EU and the wider European Region will be preparing significant action plans and commitments concerning environment and health. We hope this newsletter will help you to become more involved in these developments, and provide you the tools to better understand the link between environment and health.
Preparations for the Fourth Environment and Health Ministerial Conference, to be held in Budapest in June 2004, are in full swing.
Dozens of workshops, ad-hoc working groups and meetings are focusing on the Conference’s theme — The future for our Children. Issues covered in these events include Europe wide action plans, estimating economic and health costs, impact of transport, water and building up advocacy skills. A calendar of events is available on the Conference website.
The next intergovernmental preparatory meeting will be held in Evora, Portugal, 26-27 November to continue negotiations on the main policy outcomes expected from the Budapest Conference - a Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) and a Ministerial Declaration.
For more information on civil society preparations and the Healthy Planet Forum, to be held in parallel with the Ministerial Conference, visit www.healthy-planet-forum.org.
The EU’s new strategy on Environment and Health, known as SCALE, kicks-off its Technical Working Groups (TWG) this week in Poland and Italy, which host regional conferences.
Experts from member states, NGOs, industry and other civil society actors sit on the TWGs to work towards baseline reports over the next two months. The draft reports from each TWG will be discussed during the Consultative Working Group meeting, 18-19 December, 2003.
EEN is represented in six of the nine working technical working groups, and will be consulting with its member organisations and other interested NGOs to ensure that it can bring the widest possible expertise to the discussions in December.
The Commission’s new proposals on revising chemicals legislation, REACH, are expected to be published at the end of October, and industry and NGOs are gearing up to lobby the European Parliament and Council.
If this is the first time you have received this newsletter, make sure you’re signed up for future issues by clicking here.
Regular electronic information on preparations for the Budapest Ministerial Conference is also available through EEN’s list serve, On the Road to Budapest.
If you would like us to feature something in the October newsletter, please send us your information by 31 October.
Best wishes,
Genon K. Jensen, EEN Coordinator
The EEN Newsletter for August-September 2003 is now available online.
You can consult the content by clicking on the title of each article.
Budapest Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health
Calendar of events for the Budapest ministerial conference
Ad hoc meeting for the CEHAPE working group
WHO workshop on children’s environmental health advocacy
Report on WHO meeting on precautionary policies and health
WHO discussion forum on health of children and adolescents
EU Environment and Health Strategy
Composition of Commission working groups
EU regional conferences kick-off
Children, Environment and Health
With a Bike to School - Project of SWF
3rd International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment
Carcinogenic benzene levels highest at rush hour
Children suffer most from the effects of ozone depletion
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the UK
Commission opens consultation on future legislation on cadmium in fertilisers
EU-wide carbon dioxide emissions charge for European airlines
European Investment Bank committed to environmental objectives
Flame retardant chemical found in breast milk
Liikanen presents consultation results on EU chemicals policy review to council
New environmental health news website
Pollution particles found to have large impact on infant health
US NGOs criticise Bush lobbying on EU’s chemicals review
WHO comments on the health effects of extreme weather events
WHO press release: tackling the rising death toll on roads
Commissioner Byrne at the Children and Nutrition Congress
Report finds direct link between junk food ads and children’s obesity
Access to maternity services in developing countries key to preventing deaths
Childrens’ book on allergies provokes controversy
Conference "Reducing Pesticide Dependency in Europe"
Conferences and Events September-October 2003
