Are you looking for a meaningful career opportunity in a dynamic and influential NGO? Join our passionate team and help make a positive impact on shaping international rules to protect the planet! We are looking for a highly motivated Membership & Events Officer to join our Communication & Membership team, starting January 2026, for a one-year contract.
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World Standards Day this year focuses on the power of partnership and the impact of working together. The development of standards can enable meaningful collaboration between industries, governments, and civil society, but a lack of representation of diverse and relevant expertise from civil society organisations risks the adoption of standards which may not be fit for purpose.
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Europe is facing a double challenge: reaching energy, climate, and circularity goals while also ensuring affordable, accessible, and healthy housing. Too often, these two challenges are put against one another. However, for a built environment that works for people and nature, the upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan (EAHP) should take advantage of how environmental and social aspects can work together. With fellow experts from Natuur & Milieu and Lund University, we look at how tackling inefficient use of empty or underused buildings can ensure affordable housing and reduce environmental impacts.
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The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P) decision to create common emissions accounting standards has the potential to streamline and simplify procedures. However, this must be done in a way that lifts climate ambition, write Carbon Market Watch’s Benja Faecks and ECOS’s Thea Lyngseth.
In the name of "simplification", the European Commission wants to roll back vital environmental protections with an "Environmental Omnibus" – and they’re asking for your opinion. We have just ten days to speak up before it’s too late. Tell them to keep their hands off nature.
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The European Commission is revising the current EU Bioeconomy Strategy and refers to a “regenerative” bioeconomy, suggesting something sustainable - but without an agreed definition, this can lead to misleading claims, or even greenwashing, whilst detracting from ecologically sound approaches.
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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.
Watch the recording from our recent workshop, where we discussed the standardisation process, best practices, and recent developments for solutions for packaging minimisation, refill, and reuse.
Together with our member Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, we are organising an event in Stockholm looking at why and how civil society should get involved in standardisation in Sweden. The effective participation of environmental NGOs in standards-making is key to making sure our planet is protected by robust rules – and this year we are focusing on the role standards can play to bring about circular economy.
Webinar | How data centre expansion risks derailing climate goals - and how to fix it.
Standards will play an essential role in implementing the EU's new packaging rules. Join us on 2 October to learn more about the standardisation process and hear from experts about best practices and recent developments, as we discuss solutions for packaging minimisation, refill, and reuse.
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!
This month we marked World Standards Day – a day to recognise and celebrate the collaborative efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who develop standards. We participated in important discussions on e-waste with our partners in Africa to mark International E-waste Day. We also celebrated the EU’s new Soil Monitoring Law this month and looked at opportunities to address environmental and social aspects together in the European Affordable Housing Plan.
In our September newsletter, catch up on what you might have missed over the Summer - from the environmental impacts of data centres to defining ‘regenerative’ bioeconomy. We're also looking ahead to World Standards Day in just a few weeks (14 October), we’ve been writing about the importance of inclusiveness in standardisation. We will also be hosting an event with our members in Sweden to help engage civil society in the development of standards at national level.
The European Standardisation Regulation holds strategic importance for ECOS and is now under revision. Watch this space, as the public consultation is expected in the coming weeks. In other news, we have a new European standard for testing the durability of washing machines and we also discuss ‘the big question’ - what kinds of hydrogen now qualify as ‘low-carbon’ in the EU?
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!
Press contact: Alison Grace – alison.grace@ecostandard.org +32 493 19 22 59
New Eurostat data released today exposes the scale of Europe's overconsumption of electronics and the continued failure to properly collect and recycle electronic waste. Environmental NGOs are urging the European Commission to take decisive action in the upcoming revision e-waste legislation: stronger and binding measures to prevent waste and promote repair, reuse and proper collection (including reuse targets), and robust EPR schemes with eco-modulated fees that hold producers accountable for their products throughout their life cycle.
Today, EU lawmakers listened to citizens and science and rubber stamped the deal on the Soil Monitoring Law, the EU’s first ever law on soil health, after months of negotiations. Despite severe shortcomings of the endorsed text, this is an important milestone towards addressing Europe’s crisis of soil degradation. Its success will depend on impactful implementation.
Press release | New NGO coalition unveils first members and launches EU methane regulation implementation tracker.
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.
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.