Press release | The EU could slash emissions from concrete and steel by 19 million tonnes—almost half—by ensuring public authorities make better public purchases, a new study reveals [1]. The data also shows that products with lower emissions are cost-effective. The EU should not miss this opportunity to unlock public procurement’s green and economic potential, says environmental NGO ECOS, who commissioned the study [2].
The European Parliament has endorsed a revised EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR) that shifts action to the implementation phase instead of introducing mandatory requirements right away. The agreed law takes some timid steps forward, but without the comprehensive measures that are needed it is a far cry from the jump-start on decarbonisation that progressive voices have been calling for.
Standards are essential to the well-functioning of the European internal market. This is not different for the construction sector, which heavily relies on standards to assess the performance of products placed and traded on the internal market. With the right set of standards in place, clean technologies and innovation become a key vector for decarbonisation.
Today, the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee voted to speed up decarbonisation by introducing requirements that would cover the environmental impact of cement in the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)[1].
We are seeking for national support to ECOS standardisation and policy work on zero carbon cement & concrete - Deadline: 20 March 2023
Cement – and concrete – are indispensable in our modern day lives. However, the production of traditional cement, better known as Portland cement (PC), is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. Given that cement makes up for over 90% of CO2 emissions at concrete level, substantial GHG emissions reductions for concrete will require eco-innovation at the cement level.
ECOS and other 21 NGOs and industry frontrunners call on the EU Emissions Trading System trialogue to agree on an EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that work for the climate and support industrial transformation.
To mark World Standards Day 2022, we have gathered examples of how standards are essential to making change happen in areas of major importance to our transition to an environmentally sustainable world.
No other industry in the EU consumes more resources, energy and produces more waste by weight – and is a formidable polluter - than the construction industry. Ahead of the European Parliament's public hearing on 'Making the Internal Market for Construction Products fit for the 21st century', ECOS recommends six steps to amend the CPR.
Cement is omnipresent in modern life, serving as the key binder in concrete and mortar products. We find cement everywhere: in our roads, bridges, major buildings. However, while cheap to produce, it comes at a high cost for the environment.
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.
