Tag: environment

The French Court has overturned a government suspension of Mercedes-Benz car sales because they do not use a more environmentally-friendly air-conditioning refrigerant mandated by an EU directive. EurActiv France reports.

Three environmental demonstrators were detained on Monday (24 June) for breaching security at the Luxembourg building where EU agriculture and foreign ministers were preparing to meet. EurActiv reports from Luxembourg.

The European Commission has proposed EU-wide methods for companies to measure and communicate their ‘greenness’ and the environmental footprint of their products.

The United Nations treated government ministers and officials to a meal of blemished African fruit and vegetables to highlight how perfectly edible food is being rejected by European supermarkets.

The European Commission has hailed a UN agreement that will establish the first global treaty to cut mercury pollution. Specific household items will be blacklisted and new controls on power plants and small-scale mines will be introduced, the United Nations said on Saturday (19 January).

SPECIAL REPORT / Nearly six months after the Rio+20 global environment summit, the jury is still out on whether greener growth can truly happen. In the absence of major commitments by participating countries, EU officials were left placing their hopes on voluntary agreements by industry sectors, including plastics and PVC. But can those deliver?

The European Commission unveiled its water blueprint on Thursday (15 November), calling for strengthened enforcement of the 12-year-old Water Framework Directive amid fresh reports that many national governments are failing to live up to their commitments.

Tough new sulphur limits for shipping fuel will be phased in across EU waters as part of European Union efforts to free the air of toxic chemicals that shorten thousands of lives.

Unemployment and the economic situation are the main concerns among Europeans at the regional level, relegating environmental concerns to second-tier priority, results of the first regional-level Eurobarometer opinion poll show.

With an overhaul of air quality laws due within a year, health advocates are calling for the European Commission to resist pressure to tone down the EU’s pollution standards and instead replace them with stronger UN guidelines.

Reduced heating demand during a mild winter helped cut greenhouse gas emissions 2.5% in the European Union last year, the European Environment Agency reported today (7 September).

Europe's biofuel producers are hitting back at claims that they are at fault for this summer’s high food prices and challenge assertions that crops grown for fuel production are a threat to food supplies.

Sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing at a far greater rate than previously expected, according to data from the first purpose-built satellite launched to study the thickness of the Earth's polar caps.

The "greenest Olympics ever" could have been a great deal greener than they will be, says a critical new report that finds fault with the handling of the Games' environmental impact.

SPECIAL REPORT / Revolutionary changes in aircraft engines, coupled with more streamlined aircraft designs, are making flying cleaner as the industry aims to slash carbon emissions by half in the decades ahead. EurActiv reports from the Farnborough International Airshow.

SPECIAL REPORT / Disappointed over the failure of the Rio summit to produce ambitious commitments on sustainable growth, conservationists say Europe must now redouble efforts to tackle its own environmental challenges.

SPECIAL REPORT / Europe faces an uphill battle to convince world leaders to buy its plan for strengthening global environmental governance at an important sustainable development conference later this week.

In an old harbour crowded with houseboats, Amsterdam is looking to the future with plans to construct low-energy homes in a climate-neutral neighbourhood.

Conservatives in the European Parliament delivered a setback for European Commission plans to erase tax benefits for diesel fuel, saying that a period of austerity and high fuel costs is not the time for such moves.

Farmers' organisations worry that the European Commission’s plans to make the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more environmentally friendly could leave producers drowning in paperwork.

The world's oceans are turning acidic at what could be the fastest pace of any time in the past 300 million years, even more rapidly than during a monster emission of planet-warming carbon 56 million years ago, European and US scientists say in a new study.

Compared to other policy areas, environment still remains the Cinderella of the European budget, where allocations amount to just over €2 billion compared to research which gets more than €50 billion for the FP7. Negotiations on the next EU budget 2014-2020 will be crucial, said Commissioner Janez Potočnik in an interview with EurActiv Slovakia. 

Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken has an ambitious agenda for her country's EU presidency, including global leadership on sustainable development. The Socialist politician says she sees no conflict between environmental regulation and spurring economic growth in Europe.

The European Commission yesterday (12 December) called for a 52% increase in funding for the Financial Instrument for the Environment and an expansion of the programme to combat climate change.