EU countries invested about €69 billion in requisite assets to provide environmental protection (EP) services in 2022, according to Eurostat data late on Wednesday.
The EP services include wastewater treatment plants, vehicles to transport waste, acquisitions of land to create a natural reserve and cleaner equipment for producing less polluting emissions.
According to the data, the majority of investments were made in wastewater and waste management services, accounting for 44% and 25.7% of the overall investment amount, respectively.
The share of other services was 10.5% for air protection, 7.8% for protection against radiation and environmental R&D along with other environmental protection activities, including general environmental administration and education, 6% to soil and groundwater protection, 4.4% to biodiversity and landscape protection, and the remaining 1.6% to noise reduction.
The private sector accounted for 65% of the total investments of approximately €44 billion, with the general government and non-profit sectors accounting for the remaining 35%.
