The Ecodesign and Energy Labelling policies constitute effective tools to save energy and resources while reducing CO2 emissions. Ecodesign allows to ban the least efficient products from the market, while Energy Labelling pushes consumers towards better products. The ambitious implementation of these policies is vital for the fulfilment of EU’s climate and energy targets in the context of the European Green Deal. We aim at ambitious requirements, both from an energy efficiency and material efficiency perspective, for all products that are regulated.
The French government has just adopted some of the 149 measures proposed by the Citizen Convention for the Climate last month, a group of citizens picked at random to offer advice on climate issues. One of the boldest moves concerns outdoor heating appliances: French restaurant and bar owners are banned from placing any outdoor heater in their business’ terrace as of spring 2021. French Ecology Minister Barbara Pompili has described this practice as an “ecological aberration”.
Developing a single charger for phones, laptops and other small devices is not as straightforward as it seems. Even with a common connector, consumers need standardised and clear information on the features that chargers available on the market have - such as voltage, charging speed and data transfer functionalities. At the same time, manufacturers must stop shipping charger with every new device. Our new report puts forward a package of innovative ecodesign policies which, if implemented, will bring about huge environmental savings and help avoid tonnes of pointless e-waste.
As temperatures across Europe beat records summer after summer, air conditioner manufacturers rub their hands in glee. No wonder - their sales are skyrocketing. By 2050, the IEA expects the number of air conditioners in buildings to reach 5.6 billion, up from 1.6 billion today. Around two-thirds of the world’s households could have air-con by then.
This report contributes to the ongoing policy debate on the best way forward towards achieving the objectives of the newly announced common charger initiative. It determines the reasons behind past policy failures and examines the technology trends, considering how these are likely to impact consumers, the market and the environment in the future.
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