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To manage global resources sustainably, we must make our appliances last longer and be more energy and material efficient. A new European standard has started this process for washing machines, introducing a new method for testing how durable they are before being sold. This is a first step towards unlocking the full load of environmental and consumer benefits.
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The European Commission is about to set new rules on how to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from hydrogen production, defining what can be classified as ‘low-carbon’. What methods and definitions are the most accurate, and how can they be integrated into EU law? Find out in our blog.
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Every year in June, the African Day of Standardisation takes place. In 2025, ECOS will join ARSO (the African Organisation for Standardisation) and other key stakeholders in celebrating together as part of the ARSO week and in support of the ARSO-ECOS partnership agreement on environmental aspects of standards development in Africa. What role do standards play in Africa? How do ARSO, ECOS, and other stakeholders fit in? What are this year’s priorities? Find out below.
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Ecodesign, an EU success story, is expanding. More products than ever will soon be designed from the outset with sustainability in mind — a development that will be good for the environment and consumers. But how? And when? The Ecodesigned4LIFE project consortium, ECOS, BEUC, and ANEC, break it down.
We are excited to welcome a new member to the ECOS Network: Earthworks is an organisation focused on preventing the destructive impacts of the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals.
We are excited to welcome a new member to the ECOS Network: Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE) is an NGO active in fighting against climate change and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Until now, vehicles have been a model for repairability, often in operation for decades. This is rapidly changing due to overly restrictive vehicle design requirements that prevent more sustainable options, more electronic components, and less access to low-cost spare parts. How could a new EU regulation help the automotive sector make a U-turn?
Webinar | The increasing popularity of AI and other digital technologies is driving a boom in the need for data centres. AI is framed as a vehicle for progress, but its unchecked evolution also has a darker side: it risks undermining climate goals, destabilising energy systems, and deepening environmental and social inequalities. Join us for the launch of a new report on the environmental impacts of data centres, and possible EU policy responses.
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In May, Buy Better to Build Better (BBBB) was officially launched. The coalition unites 35 forward-thinking stakeholders from across the construction sector, civil society, and public authorities under a shared commitment to elevate public procurement as a core lever for driving demand for innovative solutions.
Want to know more about the environmental impacts of data centres? Come to our session at the European Sustainable Energy Week, #EUSEW2025, the biggest conference dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will be presenting about whether AI can be efficient and sustainable, and why we must go beyond energy efficiency to achieve our climate ambitions. Register now!
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Watch our workshop on the standardisation of repairability, hosted by ECOS and ANEC for their members and other stakeholders involved in ecodesign and energy labelling. This event was part of the reaLIFEstandards project.
Together with the Right to Repair Europe coalition, ECOS organised a webinar to discuss how the EU can lower the cost of spare parts for electronics. Missed the event? You can now watch the recording!
Join our webinar on how the EU can lower the cost of spare parts for electronics, hosted by ECOS with the Right to Repair Europe coalition.
Together with our member Association Camerounaise pour le Développement, l’Entraide Sociale et la Protection de l’Environnement (ACDESPE), we organised a webinar to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on tackling greenwashing. Missed the event? You can now watch the recording!
This month, ECOS Members, Experts, and partners met in Brussels for stimulating exchanges, learning about standards, and shaping priorities for the ECOS network. Also in June, we celebrated the African Day of Standardisation. Developing standards with environmental consideration can help to develop clean technologies, promote circularity, manage waste, or protect the natural ecosystems that produce raw materials – growing in importance for Africa and global trade.
Public procurement can accelerate the industrial transition whilst simultaneously advancing competitiveness and sustainability in Europe. This month ECOS launched a new coalition on green public procurement at a special event hosted in the European Parliament. 'Buy Better to Build Better' brings together 35 stakeholders from across the construction value chain, civil society, and public authorities, who aim to make green public procurement the default approach in Europe’s construction sector.
ECOS has long advocated for ecodesign principles to apply broadly across products and sectors. This month, the first working plan for the ESPR was published, bringing us one step closer. These new ecodesign rules will eventually apply to almost all products sold on the EU market, but we are only at the beginning of a lengthy implementation process. We will continue to push for the most ambitious implementation.
We have released our Annual Report for 2024, a summary of the impact and progress we made last year across our network. A network that continues to grow - as we also welcome two new members this month. We also have two publications to share this month, one offering a framework to reduce the negative impacts of an unfair and unsustainable textile sector, and another showing the way to decarbonise heating and cooling within five years. All this and more in our March newsletter!
A number of important EU policies will be taking shape this year – ecodesign, the Clean Industrial Deal, circular vehicle design - to name but a few. ECOS will be closely following these files and participating in the development of related standards, secondary legislation, and design requirements. The ECOS Africa office will also be hosting a webinar with our Cameroonian member to exchange best practices from Europe and Africa for tackling greenwashing.
Our new five-year strategy will help deliver our vision of a healthy and clean environment, protected by robust rules that respect nature and its resources. In our 2025 work programme, we lay out how we will create momentum for ambitious, systemic change. We also take a deep dive on some key EU files for 2025 and analyse the EU’s new rules on packaging and ecodesign, which are now at the crucial stage of implementation – where secondary legislation and standards will play an important role.
In our final newsletter of 2024, we take a look back at just some of the year's highlights across our global network of members, experts, and partners - as well as our usual monthly updates. We extend our thanks to all of our members, experts, funders, partners, and colleagues for their tireless efforts this year - we look forward to continued success with you in 2025!
Press contact: Alison Grace – alison.grace@ecostandard.org +32 493 19 22 59
Press release | European consumers need a strong Green Claims Directive to deter false claims, but concerning and unverified reports suggest the proposal is in jeopardy. If policymakers do not reach an ambitious agreement, greenwashing will continue, say environmental groups ECOS, ClientEarth, Carbon Market Watch, and the European Environmental Bureau.
Press release | Today, Europe’s Environment Ministers bowed to the automotive industry by voting to weaken a crucial regulation to make the automotive sector more circular, warn environmental NGOs.
Press briefing | On 23 June, EU negotiators are slated to meet for the last time to finalise the proposed Green Claims Directive. What can we expect? What will make the directive environmentally ambitious? Find out in our briefing — or get in touch for more.
Press release | EU negotiators have reached a provisional agreement on the revised Detergents Regulation. This updated law improves on previous measures. However, it does not do enough on substances that do the most harm to human and environmental health — including (micro)plastics, phosphates and phosphorus, allergens, and endocrine-disruptors.
Press release | Industry, business associations, public authorities, and civil society unite in new coalition calling for green public procurement to drive sustainable construction through smarter public spending in the EU: ‘Buy Better to Build Better’.
Press release | A new report, commissioned by the Rethink Plastic alliance, ECOS, and Zero Waste Europe, exposes serious methodological failures in a recent study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on plastics recycling technologies.
Press release | In new guidance, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is promoting the use of carbon credits to camouflage the fact that companies grappling with their Scope 3 emissions are off track to reach their commitments. NGOs including ECOS, NewClimate Institute, Carbon Market Watch and Milieudefensie have critiqued the guidance, saying that carbon credits must not replace direct emissions reductions.
ECOS is co-funded by the European Commission and EFTA
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.