The European Commission has launched proposals for a package to help workers and communities make the shift to fossil free societies – a policy Friends of the Earth Europe and unions have for years demanded. The proposal is part of the EU Green Deal, unveiled in December 2019. However, €7.5 billion public funding for the…
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to finance the modernisation of Grupo Ruiz’s bus fleet by facilitating €27.5 million for the introduction of 173 safer, less polluting and more modern vehicles. EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro and Grupo Ruiz CEO Gregorio Ruiz signed the agreement in Madrid. The project is supported by the European Fund…
A campaign in the run-up to the UN summit in Glasgow has been launched to bring the world’s finance sector together to address the climate emergency. The Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) will host a series of events in London, the USA, Gulf States and Asia ahead of the pivotal COP26 summit in November. The…
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, visited the premises of the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg yesterday where he addressed the EIB staff. The commission said that to achieve the ambition set by the Green Deal there are significant investment needs. “We will only be able to meet these investment needs if we mobilise both the public and…
The EU’s revised General Safety Regulation will enter into force this week. The new rules require that, as of July 2022, all new vehicle models introduced on the European market are equipped with advanced safety features. These include technology to detect drivers’ drowsiness and distraction, improved impact zone to mitigate the risk of injury to pedestrians and…
The Commission says it welcomes the provisional agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on the recast Drinking Water Directive. The agreement is based on the proposal adopted by the Commission in February 2018, as a direct follow-up to the Right2Water European Citizens’ Initiative. It aims to improve the quality of drinking water and access…
We publish here in full, with the permission of the authors, the text of a report first published on 23 December) by the Institute for Global Threats and Democracy Studies (www.igtds.org). The bottom of the Baltic Sea may contain nuclear waste burial sites made by the Russian military in the early 1990s. This complements the…
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires more than political commitment, says the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Increased investment, especially by the private sector, is needed to address current economic, social and environmental challenges. The Committee therefore advises the EU and its Member States to adjust their investment and tax policies to enhance…
The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) said it welcomes the proposal of the European Commission to enshrine the 2050 climate neutrality objective into law by March 2020. To achieve the goal of becoming the first climate neutral continent, Europe’s climate objectives must be supported with a stronger ambition represented by higher reduction emission targets, while…
Climate Action Network Europe says that after a year of unprecedented mobilisations calling for urgent climate action, world leaders at COP 25 failed to step up climate action in line with the 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement. It says the lack of ambition at COP25 puts more pressure on the EU to come forward…
