Attempts have been made to reduce the negative environmental impacts of refrigerants by replacing old generations of F-gases with new ones. But replacing one synthetic refrigerant with another has not proved to be a sustainable solution. Even if new refrigerants have a lower GWP, there exist a number of other climate impacts coming from their […]
Post Type Archives: News & Events
Setting ‘green’ rules for a booming market – Pros and cons of the EU Battery Regulation proposal
Batteries are increasingly present in our daily lives – from wireless devices to energy storage to electric vehicles (EVs) and bikes. However, even though batteries are poised to accelerate the uptake of renewable energies and decarbonise the transport sector, they also come at a cost for the environment. Last December, the European Commission published its […]
EU climate taxonomy: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Four months later than originally planned, the European Commission adopted its ‘climate taxonomy’, defining the criteria and conditions behind any investment labelled as ‘environmentally friendly’. However, the results of three years’ worth of work are far from satisfactory. Heavily influenced by intense lobbying from EU member states and industry, the proposal presented by the Commission […]
ECOS suspends its activities in EU Platform on Sustainable Finance over harmful taxonomy proposal
The European Commission adopted yesterday a Climate Taxonomy Delegated Act [1] which considers industrial logging and tree burning for energy as ‘environmentally sustainable’. This goes against the clear scientific evidence provided by members of the Platform on Sustainable Finance, as well as its predecessor, the Technical Expert Group (TEG). Following this announcement and having repeatedly voiced […]
ECOS regrets missed opportunity: The EU’s taxonomy will fail to channel money in support of EU climate ambition
The European Commission adopted today a Delegated Act for an EU list of financial investments to be officially recognised as sustainable – commonly known as ‘taxonomy’ [1]. With this document, the Commission opens the door to industrial logging as well as bioenergy activities with no environmental safeguards to be considered as sustainable, bowing to pressure […]
Ecodesign requirements for textiles are a crucial step towards stopping fast fashion
Today’s fashion is faster and faster – and keeps on accelerating at breakneck speed. Between 2000 and 2015, in only 15 years, the amount of clothes produced in the world doubled, with EU households spending €527.9 billion on clothes and textile products every year. Unless we slow down, our planet will become the ultimate […]
ECOS Newsletter – April 2021
Watch our webinar on ecodesign for circular textiles!
The webinar presented the new ECOS report on how ecodesign can make our textiles circular and gave first-hand insights from our speakers: Valeria Botta, ECOS Kirsi Laitala, Consumption Research Norway, SIFO Paola Migliorini, European Commission Mathieu Rama, RREUSE Mariska Zandvliet, EuRIC We will discussed: The current ecological footprint of textile products and the EU policies […]
Buildings and infrastructure – the forgotten pieces of the EU’s climate strategy
Buildings, pavements, roads… the term ‘built environment‘ encompasses almost everything the eye can see in our immediate surroundings. Seeking to ensure that our man-made environment becomes sustainable, in 2020 the European Commission announced the launch of an EU Strategy for the Sustainable Built Environment, scheduled for mid-late 2021. However, today the idea seems to be […]
Smart standards for a smarter future – these two could change our lives
These standards will determine how we charge our electric cars, change the way electricity flows in our homes, and potentially cut our energy bills. How? Read our Q&A! What are these standards about? The V2G standard enables electric vehicles (EVs) to give energy back to the grid, to a building, or to other devices. This […]
