EU Commission

Zero-pollution future becomes top priority in high-level policy cooperation

Business Spirit News reporting — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 10:50:52 +0000

Zero-pollution future becomes top priority in high-level policy cooperation

Tags

Pollution

UNEP

EU Commission

Topic

Zero Pollution

Public and private pollution issues will be addressed with urgency and a holistic approach under a new cooperation agreement led by the European Commission and UN Environment Programme.

At the first-ever Policy Dialogue on Zero Pollution held in Brussels in early December 2021, a new agreement was formed to urgently reduce pollution as part of a European Commission (EC) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) led cooperation.

To address pollution caused by public and private sector attending parties agreed on an integrated and holistic approach with the active involvement of EU institutions, UNEP, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

A closer EC-UNEP cooperation will focus on synchronising respective zero pollution action plans and increasing their attention to nature protection and restoration as potential solutions to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity, and pollution.

“We welcome the efforts made to tackle pollution on the global scene, both by UNEP and other partners. Pollution knows no borders, and we must work together to achieve a cleaner and healthier future,”

said Astrid Schomaker, EC, DG Environment, Director for Global Sustainable Development, about the new agreement.

He added that “to address pollution in a holistic way, nature-based solutions and moving to more circular economies in particular” are crucial in creating a common zero-pollution agenda.

At the Zero Pollution Policy Dialogue, top-level international organisations discussed selected areas where follow-up and cooperation between the Commission and UNEP are most prospective and applicable in short to medium term.

Key areas of cooperation include:

Promoting multilateral cooperation;
Strengthening political support and capacities to reduce air, water and marine pollution, promote the sound management of chemicals and waste and address transboundary pollution;
Spearheading a circular lifecycle approach in high-impact sectors and value chains such as transport, building and construction, food and agriculture, electronics, textiles, plastics;
Increasing cooperation on the trade of potentially polluting products and waste by promoting strategies including a “safe and sustainable by design” approach, green chemistry, “non-toxic” circularity and integrated waste management;
Developing data and knowledge to help policymakers with a solid scientific basis to track progress and address pollution, improve our air quality, reduce source to sea pollution, reduce health impacts, and enhance opportunities for pollution-free economies.

Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, UNEP, Director, Economy Division, said:

“Now is the time to consider how transformational change in key sectors of the economy can address the pollution crisis. UNEP and the EC will be working together and with the main stakeholders across key sectors, where opportunities to enhance economic, social and environmental benefits can be harnessed in tandem.”

This cooperation framework is part of Chapter 5 of the new Annex of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed by the European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme in February 2021.

There are various activities, programmes and projects where the cooperation between the European Commission and UNEP have substantially advanced progress in areas with common concerns such as biodiversity, sustainable consumption and production, circular economy and resource efficiency, climate change, pollution, water resources, sound chemicals, waste management, environmental monitoring and more.

Headline image: Markus Distelrath from Pexels

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December 2021

EU Green Deal climate package set out to fundamentally change lives and businesses until 2030

Business Spirit News reporting — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:29:46 +0000

EU Green Deal climate package set out to fundamentally change lives and businesses until 2030

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Making Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent is the primary goal of the recently introduced EU Commission proposal package.

The European Commission adopted a package of proposals on 14 July to apply significant changes in the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The goal is to make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent until 2050 by embracing the European Green Deal in the next decade.

The proposal introduced by the European Commission is presenting the legislative tools to deliver on the targets agreed in the recently adopted European Climate Law.

These changes aim to fundamentally transform the European economy and society to create a fair, green and prosperous future.

The European Commission on delivering the European Green Deal

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said:

“The fossil fuel economy has reached its limits.

We want to leave the next generation a healthy planet as well as good jobs and growth that does not hurt our nature.

The European Green Deal is our growth strategy that is moving towards a decarbonised economy.

Europe was the first continent to declare to be climate neutral in 2050, and now we are the very first ones to put a concrete roadmap on the table.

Europe walks the talk on climate policies through innovation, investment and social compensation.”

The package introduces a comprehensive and interconnected set of proposals that will enable the necessary acceleration of greenhouse gas emission reductions until 2030.

The specific targets are a combination of new strategies applied in various sectors.

Plans are mainly focusing on emissions trading to new sectors and a tightening of the existing EU Emissions Trading System; increased use of renewable energy; greater energy efficiency; a faster roll-out of low emission transport modes and the infrastructure and fuels to support them; an alignment of taxation policies with the European Green Deal objectives; measures to prevent carbon leakage; and tools to preserve and grow our natural carbon sinks.

What to expect as part of the new plans:

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) puts a price on carbon and lowers the cap on emissions from specific economic sectors every year. The Commission proposal aims to reduce the overall emission cap further and increase its annual rate of reduction. This would mean to phase out free emission allowances for aviation and include shipping emissions for the first time in the EU ETS. Besides, a separate new emissions trading system is set up for fuel distribution for road transport and buildings. The Commission also proposes to increase the size of the Innovation and Modernisation Funds.

Phasing out free emission allowances for aviation is part of the EU Green Deal proposal; Image: John McArthur, Unsplash

Member States should spend the entirety of their emissions trading revenues on climate and energy-related projects. A dedicated part of the revenues from the new system for road transport and buildings should address the possible social impact on vulnerable households, micro-enterprises and transport users.
The Effort Sharing Regulation assigns strengthened emissions reduction targets to each Member State for buildings, road and domestic maritime transport, agriculture, waste and small industries.

By 2035, the EU should aim to reach climate neutrality in the land use, forestry and agriculture sectors; Image:Randy Fath, Unsplash

Member States also share responsibility for removing carbon from the atmosphere, so the Regulation on Land Use, Forestry and Agriculture sets an overall EU target for carbon removals by natural sinks, equivalent to 310 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030. National targets will require Member States to care for and expand their carbon sinks to meet this target. By 2035, the EU should aim to reach climate neutrality in the land use, forestry and agriculture sectors, including also agricultural non-CO2 emissions, such as those from fertiliser use and livestock.

Stronger CO2 emissions standards for cars and vans will accelerate the transition to zero-emission mobility by requiring the average emissions of new cars to come down by 55% from 2030 and 100% from 2035 compared to 2021 levels. As a result, all new vehicles registered as of 2035 will be zero-emission. To ensure that drivers can charge or fuel their cars at a reliable network across Europe, the revised Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation will require Member States to expand charging capacity as well.

This will require charging and fuelling points at regular intervals on major highways: every 60 kilometres for electric charging and every 150 kilometres for hydrogen refuelling.

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation requires that aircraft and ships have access to clean electricity supply in major ports and airports. The ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative will oblige fuel suppliers to blend increasing levels of sustainable aviation fuels in jet fuel taken on-board at EU airports.
A revision of the Energy Taxation Directive proposes to align the taxation of energy products with EU energy and climate policies, promoting clean technologies and removing outdated exemptions and reduced rates that currently encourage the use of fossil fuels.

A new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will put a carbon price on imports of a targeted selection of products to ensure that ambitious climate action in Europe does not lead to ‘carbon leakage'.

Instead of pushing carbon-intensive production outside Europe, this regulation will ensure that European emission reductions contribute to a global emissions decline.

It also aims to encourage industry leaders outside the EU and international partners to take steps in the same direction.

Sharing responsibility evenly across different sectors and Member States, and providing additional support where appropriate is critical in making these changes happen.

A new Social Climate Fund was also proposed to ensure a fair social transition and provide dedicated funding to Member States.

This support would help citizens finance investments in energy efficiency, new heating and cooling systems, and cleaner mobility.

The Social Climate Fund will provide €72.2 billion of funding to Member States, for the period 2025-2032; with a proposal to draw on matching Member State funding, the Fund would mobilise €144.4 billion for a socially fair transition.

Together, our proposals will spur the necessary changes, enable all citizens to experience the benefits of climate action as soon as possible, and provide support to the most vulnerable households. Europe's transition will be fair, green and competitive,”

said Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal about the new proposal package.

Headline image: Paul Hanaoka, Unsplash

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July 2021

New strategy for sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture

Anonymous — Tue, 18 May 2021 11:29:33 +0000

New strategy for sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture

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The Commission introduced new guidelines to make the EU aquaculture sector more resilient, increase competitiveness and improve climate performance within the industry.

The Commission introduced new strategic guidelines for a more sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture to contribute to the European Green Deal and, in particular, the Farm to Fork Strategy.

The new initiatives are designed to help further develop the EU aquaculture sector to become more resilient and increase competitiveness within the industry while improving its environmental and climate performance.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for environment, oceans and fisheries, said at the launch event in Brussels:

“Aquaculture has a growing role to play in the European food system.

The sector can offer healthy food with a climate and environmental footprint generally below that of land-based farming.

With the guidelines we adopted today, we want to position EU aquaculture production as the global reference for sustainability and quality, reduce our dependence on seafood imports and create more jobs, especially in coastal regions.”

Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius debates the EU's sustainable blue economy

One in four of every seafood product consumed in Europe comes from aquaculture.

However, most of the seafood consumption is covered by imports, making up around 60% of the total supply.

There is a sizeable market growth potential for businesses in this sector, given that only 10% of EU seafood consumption comes from EU aquaculture.

Despite these commercial prospects, EU aquaculture production has only increased by 6% since 2007, and the EU's contribution to world aquaculture production represented less than 2% of the global output in 2018 (Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, 2020).

EU Member States and stakeholders, notably those represented in the Aquaculture Advisory Council, prepared the guidelines and set four inter-related objectives for the further development of aquaculture in the Union:

Building resilience and competitiveness
Participating in the green transition
Ensuring social acceptance and consumer information
Increasing knowledge and innovation

Looking at the challenges and opportunities of the EU aquaculture sector, the guidelines propose specific actions on several areas, including access to space and water, human and animal health, environmental performance, climate change, animal welfare, regulatory and administrative framework, and communication on EU aquaculture.

As part of specific actions, the Commission proposes to develop detailed guidance documents regarding good practices in the most important areas.

A dedicated Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism is part of these plans to support the development of those guidance documents, as well as the implementation of showcased good practices.

The proposed guidelines will also support the substantial increase in organic aquaculture at the EU level, which feeds into the recently published Organic Farming Action Plan.

In recognition of the vital role, aquaculture plays in European food security, sustainable growth and employment, the Common Fisheries Policy foresees a system of strategic coordination of aquaculture policy in the EU.

The Commission invites EU Member States to consider these new guidelines in their Multiannual National Strategic Plans for the development of the aquaculture sector and their support to the industry under the future European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and other EU funds.

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May 2021

EU Carbon Farming initiatives aim to fight climate change

Szilvia Szabó — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 09:22:13 +0000

EU Carbon Farming initiatives aim to fight climate change

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The Commission published the final report of a two-year study on setting up and implementing carbon farming in the EU.

Building on this study and other preparatory work – such as input from several EU-funded projects and events –, the Commission plans to launch the carbon farming initiative by the end of 2021.

The study “Technical Guidance Handbook – setting up and implementing result-based carbon farming mechanisms in the EU”, carried out from 2018 to 2020, explored key issues, challenges, trade-offs and design options to develop carbon farming.

The publication reviewed existing schemes about protecting and developing natural carbon sinks and explored how to trigger carbon farming in the EU.

It concludes that carbon farming brings benefits such as carbon sequestration and storage, increased biodiversity, and preservation of eco-systems.

The research also explored how widespread adoption of carbon farming can be triggered in the EU.

This recent study will serve as a guideline to help private actors and public authorities start increasing the number of carbon farming initiatives.

Technical Guidance Handbook – setting up and implementing result-based carbon farming mechanisms in the EU

Frans Timmermans Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal said:

“Our climate action must first and foremost reduce human-made emissions.

But we also need to restore and protect natural carbon sinks, so that we can capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in our soils and forests.

Carbon farming offers new income opportunities for farmers.

It is an example of how the new Common Agricultural Policy's ecoschemes and private funding can reward agricultural practices that help us fight the climate and biodiversity crises.”

The Commission will promote carbon farming as a new green business model that creates a new source of income for actors in the bioeconomy.

Pilot initiatives should be developed at the local or regional level in order to gather experience to upscale carbon farming.

This will enable improving design aspects, in particular the certification of carbon removals, and expanding stakeholders’ knowledge and understanding of the potential benefits for them.

The research concludes that result-based carbon farming can contribute significantly to the EU’s efforts to tackle climate change, bringing benefits in terms of carbon sequestration and storage and other co-benefits, such as increased biodiversity and preservation of eco-systems.

The Commission will promote carbon farming as a new green business model; Image:Pexels

Carbon farming can be promoted via EU and national policies and private initiatives.

Member States will be able to accelerate the roll-out of carbon farming practices in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), for instance, via eco-schemes or rural development support and through State aid.

This new type of financial support will create a new source of income for land managers.

In addition, as announced in the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission is developing a regulatory framework for certifying carbon removals based on robust and transparent carbon accounting to monitor and verify the authenticity of carbon removals.

Nature-based solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere can help the EU achieve climate neutrality and should therefore be rewarded.

Depending on the outcome of the CAP negotiations, eco-schemes can bring between 38-58 billion Euro to farmers.

The Commission already included carbon farming in its recommendations to the Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans.

Pilot projects are also co-financed by the EU through several channels, like the LIFE Programme and the European Regional Development Fund.

Furthermore, the Commission is organising a workshop on 25 May to help Member States design carbon farming schemes in their CAP Strategic Plans.

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April 2021

Food businesses need to prepare for the new EU action plan for organic farming

Bronagh Loughlin — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 13:01:29 +0000

Food businesses need to prepare for the new EU action plan for organic farming

Tags

Organic Farming

Food

Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

EU Commission

Topic

Food Industry

Organic Farming

The European Commission has presented its Action Plan for the development of organic production until 2030.

The European Commission has presented its recent Action Plan for the development of organic production.

The overall aim of the new plan is to boost the production and consumption of organic products to reach 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and increase organic aquaculture significantly.

The initiative is announced in line with the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, originally published by the EU Commission in May 2020.

EU Farm to Fork Strategy

These two strategies were presented in the context of the European Green Deal to enable the transition to sustainable food systems and tackle the key drivers of biodiversity loss.

The Action Plan is designed to provide the already fast-growing organic sector with the right tools to achieve the 25% target.

It puts forward 23 actions structured around three axes – increasing production, boosting consumption and further enhancing the sustainability of the sector – to ensure balanced growth.

Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said:

“Agriculture is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, and biodiversity loss is a major threat to agriculture.

We urgently need to restore balance in our relationship with nature.

This is not something farmers face alone; it involves the whole food chain.

With this Action Plan, we aim to boost demand for organic farming, help consumers make informed choices, and support European farmers in their transition.

The more land we dedicate to organic farming, the better the protection of biodiversity in that land and in surrounding areas.”

There are many important benefits to organic production: organic fields have approximately 30% more biodiversity, organically farmed animals enjoy a higher degree of animal welfare and take fewer antibiotics.

Besides, organic farmers have higher incomes and are more resilient, and consumers know precisely what they are getting thanks to the EU organic logo.

EU organic logo

Growing consumption of organic products will be essential to encourage farmers to convert to organic farming and therefore, increase their profitability and resilience.

To this end, the Action Plan puts forth several concrete actions aimed at boosting demand, maintaining consumer trust and bringing food closer to citizens.

Promoting organic food is part of the EU's Action Plan; Image: Pexels

This includes: informing and communicating about organic production, promoting the consumption of organic products, stimulating greater use of organics in public canteens through public procurement and increasing the distribution of organic products under the EU school scheme.

Actions also aim to prevent fraud, increasing consumers’ trust and improving traceability of organic products.

Presently, about 8.5% of EU's agricultural area is farmed organically, and the trends show that with the present growth rate, the EU will reach 15-18% by 2030.

This Action Plan provides the toolkit to make an extra push and reach 25%.

Currently, around 1.8% (€7.5 billion) of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is used to support organic farming.

The future CAP will include eco-schemes, which will be backed by a budget of €38 – 58 billion, for the period 2023 – 2027, depending on the CAP negotiations outcome.

These eco-schemes can be deployed to boost organic farming.

The Commission is encouraging Member States to develop national organic action plans to increase their share of organic farming and complement the national CAP strategic plans.

Beyond the CAP, key tools include organising information events and networking for sharing best practices and certification for groups of farmers rather than for individuals, research, and innovation.

The use of blockchain and other technologies is part of the plan to improve traceability, increase market transparency, reinforce local and small-scale processing, support the organisation of the food chain, and enhance animal nutrition.

The Commission will also encourage the development of organic tourism networks through ‘biodistricts'.

'Biodistricts' are areas where farmers, citizens, tourist operators, associations and public authorities work together towards the sustainable management of local resources, based on organic principles and practices.

The Action Plan also aims to further improve organic farming's performance in terms of sustainability.

To achieve this, actions will focus on improving animal welfare, ensuring the availability of organic seeds, reducing the sector's carbon footprint, and minimising the use of plastics, water and energy.

The new Action Plan for organic farming will directly influence food businesses in the next few years within the EU to adopt sustainable practices and change their strategies.

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April 2021

'Social Economy Mission'

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:59:04 +0000

'Social Economy Mission'

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EU Commission

Open call

Date

27th April 2020 - 9th June 2020

Venue

European Union

Call for proposals: Social Economy Mission - COSME, EU

The general objective of this call for proposals is to follow-up on a successful European Social Economy Regions 2018 (ESER) pilot that established a basis for creation of effective networks of social economy stakeholders at regional level across Europe and to boost inter-regional collaboration in the field of social economy.

The project is aiming at engaging a network of regional and local authorities established in the EU and COSME participating countries, and stakeholders with similar social economy priorities and creating space for inter-regional learning and collaboration. Enhanced inter-regional cooperation in the field of social economy will contribute significantly to a gradual building of a social economy community of practice as an integral part of a sustainable European economic model. The specific objectives to be achieved through this call for proposals are the following:

Enhancing interaction and improving collaboration between existing social economy networks and stakeholders at a regional and local level in the field of priorities of “Social economy missions”

Boosting inter-regional learning between social economy stakeholders (public and private sector) in the field of priorities of “Social economy missions”

Contributing to the gradual building of a Social Economy community.

The deadline for electronic submission is 9 June 2020, 17:00 hours (Brussels time).

More details about the eligibility criteria and application are on the EU Commission website - COS-SEM-2020-4-01: Social economy missions >>

COS-SEM-2020-4-01: Social economy missions

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European Social Innovation Competition with €150,000 funding

Szilvia Szabó — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 18:29:05 +0000

European Social Innovation Competition with €150,000 funding

Tags

Social Innovation

EU Commission

Topic

Sustainable Fashion

Reimagine Fashion: Changing behaviours for sustainable fashion - European Social Innovation Competition 2020

The European Commission launched the European Social Innovation Competition 2020 which is in its 8th year and acts as a beacon for social innovators in Europe, supporting early-stage ideas and facilitating a network of radical innovators shaping society for the better.

Each year the competition addresses a different issue facing Europe, this it is focusing on the theme: Reimagine Fashion: Changing behaviours for sustainable fashion.

EU citizens, on average, buy more than 12kgs of clothing yearly, the production of which contributes 195 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere and uses 46 billion cubic meters of water. Clothing accounts for between 2% and 10% of the environmental impact of overall EU consumption.

At the same time, more than 30% of clothes in Europeans' wardrobes have not been used for at least a year. Once discarded, over half the garments are not recycled, but end up in mixed household waste and are subsequently sent to incinerators or landfill.

"European consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of their consumer habits. Building on Europe's position at the forefront of global fashion, this year's social innovation competition is looking for innovations that change the ways we produce, use and wear fashion and encourage more sustainability across the fashion industry," says Slawomir Tokarski, Director of Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing, DG GROW

Innovative ideas to make fashion sustainable

This year's competition is looking for ideas that contribute to improving the sustainable production, use and consumption of fashion as well as the end of life stage of fashion products.

The Commission is looking for early-stage projects that will change the ways we produce, buy, use and recycle fashion and encourage a more sustainable change in consumer behaviour.

Solutions presented at the competition should also be scalable at the local, national or European levels.

Ideas should aim to reduce the overall environmental footprint of fashion, improve its societal impact, and help change behaviours in a sustainable way by helping to develop new products, services, processes and innovative business models.

The competition is open to all with innovative and creative ideas on making the fashion industry more sustainable, including social innovators, entrepreneurs, students, designers, businesses and other doers, makers and change creators.

Application process

Thirty semi-finalists will be invited to the European Social Innovation Academy in July, where they will receive mentoring and training to structure their development plans.

The second round of judging will identify ten finalists, then a jury will select three winning ideas in November 2020, each of which will receive an award of €50,000.

Applications are open until Wednesday 4th March 2020 noon CET. For full details on the application process, visit the Social Innovation Competition website.

The European Commission organises the European Social Innovation Competition 2020 with supports from Nesta Challenges, Kennisland, Ashoka Spain, the European Network of Living Labs, and Scholz & Friends.

The competition will complement several measures the Commission has already implemented to address the problem of sustainability in fashion.

The circular economy package, adopted in 2018, will for the first time, require Member States to ensure that textiles are collected separately.
The new Waste Directive requires Member States to set up such schemes at the latest by 2025.
The Packaging Waste Directive introduces targets for the recycling 60% of all packaging by 2025 and 70% by 2030.

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January 2020