ECOS | Environmental Coalition on Standards

News & events

  • 31 May 2021

    European Commission commits to higher transparency in taxonomy decision-making, ECOS resumes work in official advisory group

    By Mathilde Crêpy
    By Ivo Cabral

    The European Commission committed to higher transparency in the creation of a sustainable finance taxonomy following calls by the Platform on Sustainable Finance, prompted by protests of ECOS and four other NGOs. Over a month ago, nonprofits suspended their participation in the Platform on Sustainable Finance as a response to the adoption of a taxonomy proposal which ignored scientific advice.

  • 26 May 2021

    Definitions for recycled plastics must be legally binding and decided democratically, not set by companies – NGOs tell European Commission

    Today, ECOS, Zero Waste Europe, and the Rethink Plastic alliance have sent a letter calling on the European Commission to put on hold the development of overarching standards on plastics recyclability until related EU laws are adopted. Going ahead with this standardisation process now would give companies the opportunity to set the ambition of definitions of recyclability-related terms, potentially weakening effective recyclability rates in Europe for years to come.

  • 20 May 2021

    European businesses, investors, regions, cities and NGOs spell out their expectations from the ‘Fit for 55’ Package

    Ahead of the European Council’s discussion on 25 May about the new climate and energy legislation (so called Fit for 55 Package), European businesses, investor groups, local and regional authorities and NGOs published a joint letter to list their expectations. They called upon EU decision makers to ensure that the upgraded climate and energy legislation increases the EU’s climate ambition to the highest possible level, while supporting a green, territorially balanced and socially fair transition in all regions. 

  • 06 May 2021

    New ECOS briefing: natural refrigerants needed for cutting emissions from fridges and air conditioners

    By Rita Tedesco
    By Carolina Koronen

    Fluorinated refrigerants (F-gases) are artificial gases that are mainly used in the refrigeration, heat pump and air conditioning sectors. Most of them have a significant global warming effect once they are emitted into the atmosphere, thousands of times worse and with a longer life than carbon dioxide. Our new briefing shows that there are more climate impacts associated with F-gases than the ones usually considered.

  • 05 May 2021

    Setting ‘green’ rules for a booming market – Pros and cons of the EU Battery Regulation proposal

    By Rita Tedesco

    Batteries are crucial both for the energy transition and clean transport. However, clear rules need to be set right at the outset of this revolution, so that batteries do not damage our environment. In Europe, policymakers and members of the standardisation community are deciding on the rules that should mitigate the impact of these products. The latest legislative proposal put on the table by the European Commission might be hard to follow – but not with our EU Battery Regulation cheat sheet here below.

  • 05 May 2021

    EU climate taxonomy: the good, the bad, and the ugly

    By Mathilde Crêpy

    On 22 April, the European Commission published its long-awaited ‘climate taxonomy’ or a list of ‘green’ economic activities, which aims to channel investments into activities supporting a change towards a truly sustainable world. Read on for our analysis – all you need to know, including the harsh truths.

  • 22 April 2021

    ECOS suspends its activities in EU Platform on Sustainable Finance over harmful taxonomy proposal

    ECOS and four other NGOs request the opening of a negotiation with the Commission to establish rules of governance in the Platform on Sustainable Finance. Official talks are needed to make sure political and individual interests do not overrule the scientific integrity of the EU taxonomy criteria.

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.

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