There’s no questioning whether plastic is an important material in our daily lives. However, European citizens generate about 25 million tonnes of plastic waste, but under 30 % is collected for recycling. Plastic waste is mostly burned, so more eco-friendly processes are being sought. The waste is having serious negative effects on our health and […]
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Education for a greener, more sustainable Europe: Share your ideas!
The aim of the consultation is to gather input and ideas for a proposal for a Council Recommendation on education for environmental sustainability, to be adopted by the Commission in late 2021. Are learners in Europe being equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to act on the climate emergency and biodiversity loss? Are […]
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Sharp decrease in CO2 emissions of new cars in 2020
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12 % decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions also decreased slightly, by about 1.5 %. According to the […]
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Europeans consider climate change to be the most serious problem facing the world
Eurobarometer Survey: Europeans consider climate change to be the most serious problem facing the world A new Eurobarometer survey published on July 5, 2021, shows that European citizens believe climate change is the single most serious problem facing the world. More than nine out of ten people surveyed consider climate change to be a serious […]
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Why is EU funding for regions so important?
EU funding will help regions recover from the Covid crisis, whilst reducing disparities, making them greener and creating jobs. Revamping EU regional policy During a plenary session in June 2021, Parliament adopted a cohesion package, including the main regional funds the European Regional Development and Cohesion Fund and the European Territorial Goal of the regional […]
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Digital COVID Certificate enters into application
As of today, the EU Digital COVID Certificate Regulation enters into application. This means that EU citizens and residents will now be able to have their Digital COVID Certificates issued and verified across the EU. 21 Member States as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein had already started to issue certificates ahead of today’s deadline, […]
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Average car emissions kept increasing in 2019, final data show
Average emissions from new passenger cars in Europe increased for the third consecutive year in 2019, reaching 122.3 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g CO2/km), according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) final data. Data about newly registered vans show a stable trend. New EEA data set baseline for emission reductions in heavy-duty vehicles. The EEA […]
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European aircraft fleet for the 2021 forest fire season
To be prepared for any large-scale wild fires this season, the European Commission has set up a European fleet* of 11 firefighting planes and 6 helicopters hosted across Member States under the rescEU system. The Commission also issued guidelines to Member States to strengthen their fire prevention measures. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: […]
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Colourful plastics to increase greenhouse production
Increasing the productivity of greenhouses is the objective of a project of the University of Almeria that uses colored plastic and ventilation to change the climatic conditions of greenhouses and play with the radiation that reaches the crop. The aim is to increase humidity and temperature conditions and increase productivity with clean energy without impacting […]
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