Should mineral wool be considered in the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan?

The European Union’s Beating Cancer Plan is Europe’s main initiative to tackle the disease. But does it go far enough in addressing the hazards that workers in particular might face that could increase their risks, especially given that cancer causes around half of all deaths that are related to work? The European Commission has recently presented a…

New Chemical Strategy

The EPP Group in parliament says that it wants to ban dangerous chemicals from human contact. “We must ban dangerous chemicals from situations where they are dangerous to humans and the environment. The health of European citizens must come first. We support the European Commission’s goals in achieving a toxic-free environment”, stated Peter Liese MEP,…

EU To Miss Plastic Recycling Targets?

There is a significant risk that the EU will not meet its plastic packaging recycling targets for 2025 and 2030, according to a review by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The update of the legal framework for plastic recycling in 2018 reflects the EU’s increased ambitions and could help boost recycling capacity. The scale of the…

60% Reduction in Emissions by 2030

Members of the European Parliament have voted in favour of a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, supporting the call of the Environment Committee and going beyond the European Commission’s 55% climate target. The European Parliament will now enter into negotiations with the Council and Commission with a strong position. The European Parliament voted…

Communities for Europe

Communities for Future, a new Europe-wide action programme to inspire, empower and enable local community-led responses to the climate and ecology emergency has been launched online in Brussels. Communities for Future aims to facilitate the widespread mainstreaming of regenerative and transformative community-led action on climate change and sustainability. It draws on the work, experience and knowledge of…

European Climate Law

Ahead of the European Parliament’s vote, next Tuesday (06 October) on the European Climate Law, political groups started to table their amendments in order to integrate them into the final Law.  According to the leaked papers, the EPP (European People’s Party) is planning to seriously undermine the EU’s climate ambition in its amendments. Besides supporting…

212 Defenders of Nature Murdered in 2019

Global Witness has revealed the highest number of land and environmental defenders murdered on record in a single year, with 212 people killed in 2019 for peacefully defending their homes and standing up to the destruction of nature. Its annual report also sheds a light on the urgent role land and environmental defenders play in fighting climate breakdown,…

Prince Charles Speaks Out

HRH Prince Charles, “Climate change is now rapidly becoming a comprehensive catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic” The following are highlights of his address today. The borderless Climate bio-diversity and heath crisis are all symptoms of a planet that has been pushed beyond its boundaries, without swift and immediate action at a unprecedented case…

EU-Mercosur Trade Causing Amazon Deforestation

A new report commissioned by the French government on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, to be presented to French Prime Minister today shows that solely the expansion of beef production in the Mercosur region as a result of the deal would accelerate deforestation by at least 25% annually and destroy 36,000 km2 of forest per year, which…