We continually strive to expand the impact of our work, leveraging both standards and policy to support environmental goals. We will now be working in closer collaboration with standardisers in Africa through our new cooperation agreement. This month we also announced a new project to address the environmental impact of data centres and we released new research showing that the uptake of cleaner electric cooking hobs is increasing in Europe as the prices of electric alternatives are falling. Crucially, the importance of clean cooking in Africa is also gaining more attention from the International Energy Agency.
As the seasons begin to change, we become more aware of how we heat or cool our offices, buildings, and homes. The heating and cooling of buildings is responsible for 80% of energy consumed by EU households, but less than 25% of that comes from renewables. ECOS has joined a new coalition to decarbonise heating and cooling. This month we’ve also been looking at standards to ensure smart and flexible energy supply for electric devices like heat pumps, and we’re calling on the EU for a fossil fuel boiler definition that will help support EU climate goals.
As we near the end of the month, the INC4 Plastic Treaty negotiations are drawing to a close. Our team is in Ottawa, pushing for action on priority issues that ensure the Treaty protects human health and the environment. This month we released our analysis of the EU’s new ecodesign rules, now formally adopted this month by the European Parliament. ECOS also published new test results showing that home gas leaks more than double when hydrogen is blended with fossil gas.
Last month, ECOS attended the United Nations Environment Assembly. Taking place in Nairobi, this UN meeting was a great opportunity to further connect our international work with our new Africa office. In Europe, we are closely watching the EU Green Claims Directive and we’ve also been tackling misinformation around heating – watch our latest video and a new ‘Myth buster’ putting the record straight on how to decarbonise heating.
Construction and infrastructure projects have a huge environmental impact. Bringing this sector back within planetary boundaries needs a great number of initiatives to work hand in hand. In the EU, a lot still needs to be done to make the framework fit for purpose.
January has by no means been a slow start to 2024! We’re happy to announce that ECOS is now also present in Nairobi, Kenya, working to expand our global perspective and collaboration. This month we’ve also already seen exciting new steps in the EU to curb the proliferation of misleading or unverifiable greenwashing claims on products. Looking ahead to the rest of this year, we have shared the 2024 ECOS Work Programme outlining our five environmental priorities: clean energy, industrial decarbonisation, circular economy, environmental transparency, and nature health.
It’s been another busy year for standards and environmental policy. At ECOS, we took on new challenges, expanded our work programme, and grew the team and network – with our impact set to continue into 2024. Read some highlights from the last 12 months in our end-of-year blog. December saw an important milestone for ECOS - as the final negotiations on EU ecodesign rules came to a close, this marked the end of more than four years since we first called for ecodesign principles to apply across all sectors. Strong ecodesign legislation in the EU will send positive impacts across global value chains.
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