Monday
6th Apr 2020
A new circular economy strategy was adopted on Wednesday intended to strengthen the EU's economy, empower consumers and protect the environment. However, it fails to set targets for the EU's so-called 'material footprint' and waste reduction for specific waste streams.
The EU Commission is pushing a wave of controversial gas infrastructure projects, in parallel to its much-touted Green Deal. One of those a flagship project of the Republic of Croatia, who currently chairs the EU presidency.
The moment Europe revels in its carbon-free transport system, most of the cars that emitted too much for EU standards will still be driving around for years somewhere else in the world.
A new report warns companies that their future investments in oil and gas projects, based on 'business as usual' government policies, are likely to be in danger as tougher policies enter into force.
Legal action related to climate change is set to grow considerably in the next few years - especially after a largely-overlooked ruling over Christmas by a Dutch court forced the government to reduce its emission by 25 percent by 2020.
Croatia's national oil company has become the EU council presidency's "official gasoline supplier" - in a move that appears to clash with aspirations of the European Green Deal. Critics say such sponsorships pose a reputational risk with the wider public.
The EU commission has published new ideas on how to help industry handle the digital revolution, but decarbonisation and 2050 climate goals took second place.
Romanian policy makers should see Green Deal as helpful, not a hindrance, in pursuit of energy and economic transformation.
ExxonMobil lobbyists pushed the EU commission to weaken climate regulation for the transport sector with a two-pronged strategy: supporting the Paris Agreement, while dwelling on long-term technical solutions and promoting oil and gas usage in the green transition.
"Nature doesn't bargain, and you cannot make deals with physics", activist Greta Thunberg, and a group of 30 youth environmentalists warned, after dubbing the unprecedented EU climate law 'a surrender' for ignoring a carbon budget.
The EU's unprecedented climate law will be unveiled on Wednesday, making its 2050 climate-neutrality goal irreversible, but proposal has been criticised for postponing action on the 'climate emergency'.
"Food and agriculture are at the heart of the ecological crisis. This is one area where doing right by the planet means doing right by people in the most obvious way," said head of policy at NGO BirdLife, Ariel Brunner.
In Europe the rate of recycling carpet is shockingly low at 1-3 percent. Recyclers stay away from old carpets because they don't know which (potentially dangerous) chemicals they contain, or because they are very complex due to multiple materials used.
Individual contributions of member states to the next EU budget could soon depend on the amount of plastic not recycled. There could also be revenues from a possible carbon border tax on imports into the EU.
Europe is on the verge of allowing centralisation and concentration of farming data at an unprecedented scale, with the absence of any regulation, NGO Friends of the Earth have warned.
Most EU member states are likely to miss the 2020 target on energy efficiency, since they were not legally-binding targets. "Transformative" measures are needed to reduce energy consumption while boosting efficiency, experts say.
"Improving the statistics and data available will help the commission to know where we are and where we want to be," the European Court of Auditors said on Wednesday.
Some steps have been taken but there is so much more we can still do for the sake of our planet and our own continued existence.
The UK is leaving the EU after playing a key role in climate action - just as COP26 comes to Glasgow. With so many policy negotiations ahead, a split between London and Brussels post-Brexit could undermine the 2050 emissions-neutrality goal.
The first EU-wide climate law will be a "disciplining" exercise to implement the Green Deal - although the Polish climate minister Michal Kurtyka warned the EU Commission about the social cost of delivering the green transition.
The EU commissioner for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said on Thursday that member states have a responsibility to implement taxes on carbon to show that emissions have a cost.
MEPs and once all-powerful eurocrat Martin Selmayr just rode the first night train from Vienna to Brussels in support of the green deal, but train ticket prices remain too high.
MEPs have called on the EU commission to move away from voluntary commitments on biodiversity protection and propose a more "ambitious" strategy for 2030.
Two-thirds of people in Europe, the US and China think their individual behaviour can help tackle climate change - but Europeans and Chinese are more willing to change their living standards to limit global warming than Americans.
Despite Warsaw's refusal to commit to the 2050 emissions-neutrality goal, Poland will receive the upper limit of €2bn from the Just Transition Fund - while Germany is set to enjoy €877m.
The European Commission unveiled on Tuesday its sustainable investment plan to put Europe on track to reach the 2050 emissions-neutrality goal - while helping coal-producing regions to move away from fossil fuels.
Environmentalists denounce that the EU failed to comply with the legal obligation to end overfishing by 2020, putting at risk the sustainability of fish stocks by putting the interests of the fishing industry ahead of the health of its waters.
The president of the committee of the regions defended the "crucial role" of cohesion policy not only for the Green Deal, but also for keeping Europe united in the new challenges ahead.
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is one area where the EU has a major opportunity to apply its market power to drive down global emissions, both through methane legislation and diplomacy.
The outgoing head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, warns companies and financial institutions that fossil fuel assets will potentially be "worthless".
With "A Wake Up Call On The Environment. A Student Manifesto" French students want to force companies to become more ecological. If not, they say they will not work for them.
The agreement is the first step to set a framework for sustainable finance, that will help investors and consumers to identify economic activities that can unambiguously be considered environmentally green.
The outcome of the UN climate conference in Madrid (COP25) has been described as a "catastrophe" by environmental groups, since countries failed to agree on article six of the Paris Agreement, referring to the carbon markets system.
