2020 was an important year for climate action in Europe, with EU countries committing to at least a 55% emission reduction goal by 2030. However, not all seems to be going to plan: for no apparent reason the EU Commission has hit the brakes on ecodesign measures, a crucial set of policies slashing tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
The European Commission published its Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation for 2021. It identifies the European standardisation deliverables the EU’s Executive plans to request throughout the year.
Addressing EU Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans in an open letter, the co-signatories underline that to achieve a higher 2030 EU climate target, massive emissions reductions in the building sector will be needed (<60% compared to 2015). This requires applying the energy efficiency first principle and boost the integration of renewables, as envisaged by the Renovation Wave strategy.
ECOS has recently joined the Cool Coalition, a global network of 100+ governments, businesses, finance, academia and civil society partners committed to cutting emissions from cooling appliances – a source of climate change rapidly growing as temperatures on the planet rise.
ECOS has joined 130 NGOs and experts who are sounding the alarm on the EU’s green finance rules, the ‘Taxonomy’, and calling for them to be rooted in science – led by WWF.
We welcome the EU’s intention to make sustainable products and circular business models the norm as part of the upcoming Sustainable Products Initiative. To ensure this new legislation achieves its goals, we have sent detailed recommendations to the European Commission highlighting the need for removing unnecessary, inefficient, toxic, wasteful and polluting products from the EU market complemented with (and not driven by) better consumer information.
ECOS and Small Business Standards (SBS) published a joint paper with information about sustainability aspects of personal protective equipment and textiles – and how to make sure circularity is taken onboard in PPE-related laws and standards.
ECOS is co-funded by the European Commission and EFTA
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