Policy measures promote purchasing decisions in line with the circular economy most effectively if they take into account factors influencing the individual behavior of consumers. Therefore, measures such as economic incentives (tax breaks or subsidies), avoiding greenwashing, or strengthening emotional attachment to products should be explored. This is what the European Environment Agency (EEA) proposes […]
The trilogue negotiations on the CSRD are expected to be completed by the end of May. Many companies may then have to prepare a sustainability report for the first time next year. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will significantly change the reporting requirements. The new standards are embedded in the EU’s sustainable finance strategy […]
The EU is urged to quickly rethink its supply chains for green energy technologies and reduce its dependence on China in some areas. This is what the think tanks European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and Rhodium Group formulate in a policy paper. What is needed, they say, is a stronger domestic policy and greater […]
The EU should quickly rethink its supply chains for green energy technologies and take action to reduce its dependence on China in some areas. This is the view of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Rhodium Group in a policy paper published today. They say this will require stronger domestic policies and […]
EU exports of recyclable raw materials, including waste, scrap and other by-products, reached a record high of 40.6 million tons last year, the EU statistics office Eurostat said yesterday.Eurostat data show that exports to non-EU countries, almost half of them ferrous metals such as iron and steel, increased by 2.0 million tons in one year […]
At a discussion at the Berlin Energy Days, experts from research, politics and business called for international standards for sustainable hydrogen trade. It is not enough to define German or European criteria, they said at the event on Friday.If Germany is climate-neutral in 2045, according to a calculation by Forschungszentrum Jülich, it will have an […]
With a view to diversifying energy sources, the Federal Association of the German Heating Industry (BDH) has proposed greater use of biomethane for the heat transition and the expansion of international supply chains. The production and refinement of biogas has so far been too limited to Germany, Markus Staudt, chief executive of the BDH, said […]
The construction of liquefied natural gas terminals in Germany is moving forward. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is currently working on the procurement of four floating LNG terminals (Floating Storage and Regasification Units, FSRU), as Andreas Kaiser, an officer at the BMWK, reported at the Berlin Energy Days. He said the LNG […]
Lithium, magnesium, rare earths: Europe is heavily dependent on imports of important raw materials for the energy transition. Chinese companies dominate many production stages of photovoltaic plants, for example, and the EU also obtains important components for wind turbines and electric cars almost entirely from China. Politicians and industry agree: This has to change. Europe […]
In the future, entire groups of chemicals that are hazardous to health and the environment could be banned in the European Union. A corresponding roadmap, the Restrictions Roadmap, was published by the EU Commission in Brussels on Monday.The environmental organization EEB welcomed the plan. It is a political commitment to use existing laws to ban […]