A survey conducted by YouGov shows that football fans strongly support environmental NGOs’ call to clubs in the UK top four divisions to eliminate single-use plastics from their stadiums. Bottles, straws, food containers, bags, supporter paraphernalia…. An important part of waste generation in stadiums is single-use plastics. The UN warns that 50% of this type of garbage ends up in the oceans. Friends of the Earth and the British Association for Sustainable Sport are urging all clubs to ban them from stadiums. According to the result of the survey, 84%…
Read MoreMonth: September 2019
Cities and regions will play a key role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050
Stopping global warming requires a concerted effort by all levels of government. Being responsible for more than 70% of climate mitigation measures and up to 90% of climate adaptation actions, local governments will be pivotal in rising up to the challenge, writes Karl-Heinz Lambertz. Karl-Heinz Lambertz is a Belgian politician who is currently President of the European Committee of the Regions, an EU consultative body. Ignoring the thousands of people taking the streets each week demanding world leaders to keep the promises made when they signed the UN climate Paris…
Read MoreMEPs condemn European Patent Office for patentability of plants grown in biological processes
In a new episode of the longstanding legal saga on biotech inventions, the European Parliament delivered a reprimand to the European Patent Office (EPO) reaffirming that tomatoes, broccoli and other plants obtained by essentially biological processes must not be patentable. The non-legislative resolution adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday (19 September) is scathing about the EPO, saying their internal decision-making rules “must not undermine democratic political control of European patent law and its interpretation and the legislator’s intent.” The EPO, which is not an EU body, opened the possibility of granting…
Read MoreEuropean Parliament must stop Amazon and climate destruction
EU lawmakers should show global leadership by legislating to ensure that companies’ supply chains and investments are not linked to deforestation, environmental harm and human rights abuses, writes Giulia Bondi. Giulia Bondi is an EU Campaigner for Global Witness The stakes are high for the new European Parliament and team of Commissioners. Not only do they face a challenging welcome, with issues on EU borders, protecting European democracy from disinformation and interference, and digital security landing on their desks, they also face pressing global questions on the future of our…
Read MoreEuropean police conducted the “largest in the world” anti-piracy operation
European police stormed various locations while police in Bulgaria, Italy, France, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands carried out raids coordinated by the EU’s judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, smashing what they called the world’s biggest pirate streaming TV network with five million customers in Italy alone. Police arrested at least 23 suspects as part of the ongoing operation against Xtream Codes, an alleged illegal pirating operation which Eurojust said caused damages worth some €6.5 million to the market. Italian financial police said the operation had “deactivated the largest international pirate pay…
Read MoreThe path to pure mobility
As European cities hold Mobility Week events across the continent, this special report looks at some of the challenges facing the sustainability drive. New emission targets, shifting social patterns and advances in technology are set to drastically change the drivers behind the EU’s current mobility system. Along with measures to increase the use of public transport and alter travel habits, established manufacturers and industry are starting to plan wholesale changes to the products they put on the market. Incoming Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also offered up clues…
Read MoreThree valuable lessons from the Brexit tragedy that Europe must learn
The sight of Boris Johnson’s government ‘going rogue’ is a reminder that EU institutions offer citizens a place to go when domestic governments deny their rights, argues Roger Casale. Roger Casale is the founder and secretary general of New Europeans The British have fallen deeper into the elephant trap of Brexit. Meanwhile in continental Europe, patience is starting to wear thin. There is sympathy for the 5 million EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU whose lives have been left in limbo. But why should we Europeans…
Read MoreWealthy countries still unable to make $ 100 billion climate finance commitments
In 2017, the most industrialised countries contributed a little above $70 billion to nations vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This number is far below the annual $100 billion pledged in 2009 for the following decade. EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de l’environnement reports. The $70 billion contributions of industrialised countries towards more vulnerable ones to combat the effects of climate change are far from the promises made and could spark debate at the next UN climate summit on 23 September. The Gordian knot of the global warming negotiations for…
Read MoreBrexit without a deal will be a “disaster”, warns BusinessEurope
A shock exit by Britain from the EU without an agreement would be “a disaster”, European employers’ organisation Business Europe, warned on Monday (16 September). One of the EU’s most powerful lobbies, BusinessEurope issued the warning just hours before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg. Both sides are under intense pressure to mend fences just a month and a half before the Britain’s scheduled departure on 31 October. But Johnson, unlike predecessor Theresa May, has said he is determined that…
Read MoreEU defense funding falls short of big ambitions: report
EU’s objective to increase defence spending to €22.5 billion over the next decade is insufficient for its ambitions in the sector, the European Court of Auditors said Thursday (12 September) in its annual review paper on the bloc’s defence cooperation and policy. If the EU tried to defend itself without help from its big NATO ally, the United States, “it is estimated that an investment of several hundred billion euros would be needed to overcome the current capabilities gap,” the report underlined. “Significant and uncoordinated cuts in member states’ defence…
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