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What is sustainable finance and what role can it play in Europe’s shift to carbon neutrality? We asked the EEA’s lead expert on sustainable finance, Andreas Barkman, to explain what the EU has been doing to ensure that the financial sector plays its part in greening our financial system to support sustainable growth.
Faced with climate change, soaring energy prices and concerns about security of supply, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power seem an obvious way forward. What would it take to transform Europe’s existing energy system into one that is based on renewable sources?
Societies depend in many ways on moving people and goods economically and efficiently from one place to another. International trade gives us access to foreign products and markets. People need ways of going to school, work and other activities. Transport is an essential part of our way of life but, in its current state, it is dependent on fossil fuels and puts serious pressure on the environment and climate.
The European Green Deal puts emphasis on leaving no one behind, ensuring a just transition, in creating a more modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. What does a socially just transition mean in practice? We spoke to Jorge Cabrita, research manager at Eurofound.
The chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment (CSS) embraces two overarching goals of the chemicals legislation: preventing harm to people and the planet from hazardous chemicals and their toxic effects and supporting EU industry in the production of safe and sustainable chemicals.
The circular economy is now a widely accepted concept. It goes beyond just managing waste: it is more about keeping the value of materials high and making them last longer in their intended use. It also seeks to design unnecessary material use out of the economy. This requires new business models and a more decisive transition from ownership models to service-based solutions. A comprehensive set of new circularity policies has been introduced at EU level and there is evidence of increased circular activities in EU Member States.
The EUCRA report builds on and complements the existing knowledge base on climate impacts and risks for Europe, including recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, as well as outcomes of EU-funded research and development projects and national climate risk assessments. The knowledge in this first-of-its-kind assessment is synthesised with the aim to support strategic policymaking.
EU policymakers have recently decided to introduce a direct ban on the destruction of textiles and footwear with some exemptions for small, micro and medium-sized companies. In this briefing, the EEA provides an overview of what is currently known about the volumes and destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe. The growth of online shopping, flexible return practices, changed consumer preferences and fast-fashion business strategies in Europe have resulted in increased shares of returned and unsold textiles. Over the past years, fast fashion as well as luxury brands, have been reported to destroy returned or unsold clothing, shoes and other textiles. Textile product destruction, where products are destroyed by retailers, brands or manufacturers before use, is an example of a resource ‘take-make-waste’ approach, highlighting the inefficiency of current linear production-consumption systems which cause avoidable negative impacts on the environment and climate.
The droughts, heatwaves and wildfires of summer 2022 were a stark reminder of why mitigating climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century. The EU’s commitment to become climate neutral ...
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