Air quality has a major impact on health, the environment, and the overall well-being of people. Two indicators are used to monitor air quality: Concentrations of fine particles in the air (particulate matter PM), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Both are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as major air pollutants with significant negative effects on respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Recent PM10 data for Europe show that across Eastern European countries, as well as Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Italy, a large share of population is exposed to elevated values of parti-culate matter above an annual average concentration of 20 μg/3. According to the WHO guidelines, the risk of adverse effects on health is very high above this threshold of annual average exposure ().

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. While CO2 occurs naturally in the atmosphere and is part of the earth’s carbon cycle – the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and animals – human activities alter the carbon cycle by adding additional CO2 into the atmosphere and at the same time influence the ability of natural carbon sinks, such as forests and oceans, to remove CO2 from it. Despite the fact that CO2 emissions come from a variety of natural sources, man-made emissions have accounted for the majority of the CO2 increase in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrialisation.

Reducing carbon emissions from anthropogenic sources such as industrial production and fossil-fueled transportation is paramount in the pursuit to reduce carbon footprints and tackle the challenge of global climate change. At the same time, natural vegetation and its ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) are central components in the mitigation of greenhouse gases. This natural process of CO2 sequestration is the result of photosynthesis; hence, a region’s potential to absorb carbon from the atmosphere is linked to its exposure to sunlight, precipitation and green leaf biomass.

Efficient waste management plays an important role for public and environmental health. It prevents the formation of greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and other toxic gases that form through the degradation of organic waste in landfills, and particularly in warmer climates, effective waste management reduces the risk of spreading diseases. While inefficient waste management has negative impacts on landscapes and watercourses, other environmental concerns result from the fact that some disposal items are made from limited resources. Hence, re-using such items reduces the pressure on natural resources and increases resource efficiency. In addition, waste disposal has an important economic implication for local governments which are usually responsible for its management.

Innovation in environmentally related technologies contributes to environmental sustainability and green growth. The patenting activity of regions in environmental technology provides a measure of the efforts and pace of innovation. Japan and the United States display the top performing regions in number of patents in new sectors such as environmental technologies, biotechnologies and nanotechnologies. Patenting activity in environmental technologies is more recent than in biotechnologies and has developed at a faster pace in comparison to nanotechnologies, whose level of activity has not increased substantially in the past ten years. Among the top performing regions in environmental patenting are Japanese regions such as Aichi and Tokyo, which have emerged more recently ().