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.
Plastic pollution is a growing environmental problem the world over. This month ECOS was in Nairobi, Kenya, for the third meeting of the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations - the first significant global cooperation to tackle plastic pollution. Read our thoughts from the meeting in our latest blog. We also supported a complaint to the European consumer authorities against potentially misleading recycling claims on single-use plastic water bottles. Consumers increasingly try to make environmentally conscious decisions – but misleading claims are not giving us the full picture and undermine our efforts to be circular.
As we mark World Standards Day in October, we reflect on more than two decades of working with standardisers, partner organisations and our members to ensure that the environmental voice is heard when standards are developed. This month we’re also sharing information on a new international standard for the sustainable management of e-waste, which could become a game changer in how we approach this rapidly growing – and very problematic – waste stream.
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