Articles related to "Raw materials: Heading for a global resource crunch?"

A majority in the Danish parliament signalled their readiness to allow extraction and exports of uranium from Greenland, marking a historical shift in Danish foreign policy after 30 years of opposition to nuclear power.

Access to natural resources in Europe through 2040 will depend on economic, political and technological factors that are hard to predict. Therefore, the policy approach from the EU has to be broader and more flexible, according to a new EU-funded research project.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament will be under pressure this autumn to follow America’s lead in adopting tough financial disclosure rules aimed at combating corruption in overseas mining and petroleum operations.

SPECIAL REPORT / From the flight deck to the wheel brakes, new generations of aircraft that produce far less pollution increasingly rely on imported raw materials which are themselves dirty to produce. EurActiv reports from the Farnborough International Airshow.

The EU's roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe received a green light from the European Parliament yesterday (24 May), in a bid to “turn talk into reality” for green economic growth. 

China has established a rare earth industry association, state media reported, in a move to speed up consolidation of its sprawling industry that has drawn fire for what overseas trade partners call unfair export quotas.

Mining and logging companies will have to disclose their payments to countries and projects in a bid to stamp out corruption, the European Union's executive proposed on Tuesday (25 October).

The European Commission's roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe does too little to address environmental concerns, argue green campaigners while businesses have criticised it for ignoring the benefits eco-industries bring to the environment.

China has appealed a World Trade Organisation ruling against its export policies on raw materials, the Ministry of Commerce said, in a move which could have implications for its rare earth exports.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled yesterday (5 July) that China's export restrictions on a series of key industrial minerals are not justified on environmental grounds and should be lifted.

Lawmakers last week (1 July) asked the European Commission to establish a permanent task force to assess the EU's need for raw materials used in a wide range of hi-tech, defence and green products.

The European car industry today seems more worried about the rising price of metals than about China's moves to restrict rare earth exports. EurActiv spoke to Renault and other car industry representatives, who predict that tensions will have been alleviated within three to four years.

A special group was set up in the European Parliament last month to collect first-hand information on the issues affecting the availability and price of raw materials. Group chair and German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz told EurActiv about his objectives.

After an aborted first attempt last week, the European Commission lifted the veil yesterday (2 February) on plans to secure access to essential raw materials for European companies. At the request of France, the updated draft now includes measures to improve the transparency of financial and commodity markets.

The European Commission is expected to table plans by spring aimed at ensuring that European companies get better access to raw materials around the world, amid calls for greater traceability of imported minerals from African countries.

Rising global demand for natural resources will threaten economic health and social cohesion in Europe, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned.

The European Union said on Tuesday it aimed to punish countries that hoard raw materials and energy resources or restrict access to bidding for public works contracts as part of its new long-term trade strategy.

European Union countries are embroiled in a deepening dispute over an Italian proposal to temporarily drop import tariffs on dozens of raw industrial goods, a move supposed to help EU manufacturers weather the economic crisis.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this week agreed to work together to improve the sector’s sustainability and conservation record.

Beijing's plan to ban exports of key raw materials called 'rare earths' as of 2015 should cause concern among manufacturers of high-tech products ranging from computers to electric car batteries and wind turbines, experts warned.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik yesterday (7 April) announced that he is preparing new measures for 2011 to reflect the true cost of natural resources in products and services and substitute virgin raw materials for waste wherever possible.

Changing behaviour by using the markets and prices holds the key to a resource-efficient economy, said Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik yesterday (23 March), outlining a future flagship European initiative on the issue. 

Investing in sustainable industries is a win-win situation that will boost the much-needed growth in the EU while creating a sustainable and eco-friendly environment, writes Antonio Tajani, commissioner for industry and Entrepreneurship.