More than a year after it came into law, the European Commission (EC) has published a scorecard accessing the progress of the 28 member states in implementing the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). After many years of lobbying and discussion, the landmark EUTR came into legal effect on March 3, 2013
The European Commission has issued a headline target of a 30 per cent reduction in marine litter in Europe’s seas by 2020. This target forms a part of the Commission’s ‘Communication on a Circular Economy’, which also includes new recycling and other waste-related targets
Today marks the start of Green Week in Europe – the biggest annual conference on European environment policy. EIA welcomes the focus this year on creating a circular economy, where almost nothing is wasted and reuse of resources becomes standard practice
The EU’s F-gas Regulation became law when it was published in the Official Journal of the EU, replacing an older version with several new and ambitious measures. The law, which controls the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases throughout the EU, will reduce emissions of F-gases by two-thirds of current levels by 2030
Fluorinated greenhouse gases, or F-gases, are just about everywhere in contemporary life, from industrial and supermarket refrigeration to foams, air-conditioning systems and water coolers. Among them are HFCs, a family of potent greenhouse gases hundreds to thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide
F-Gases, and HFCs in particular, are a rapidly growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Currently they account for around two per cent of European emissions, but unless urgent action is taken this will increase dramatically, estimates suggest they could account for up to 19 per cent of global emissions by 2050