Tag: sustainable consumption

Swedish agricultural authorities are recommending a tax to reduce meat consumption and say such a levy should be adopted across the European Union.

Concerns about the sustainability of natural resources are rising, prompting policymakers and companies to encourage consumers to think green. Labelling is one way of doing this, but consumer groups advise against confronting shoppers with too much information and warn that green claims aren't always independently verified.

SPECIAL REPORT / The European Commission wants to help consumers cut food waste by making 'best before' and 'use by' dates clearer on the packaging. But measures to green up our diets will not stop here, with policymakers' attention turning to the entire food chain.

SPECIAL REPORT / World leaders attending the recent Rio+20 conference agreed to promote sustainable consumption and production, but analysts say getting businesses and buyers to do just that will require far more than words on paper.

Biofuels will be the biggest contributor to the EU’s target of providing 10% of transport fuel from renewable energy by 2020, but consumers at the petrol pump could be forgiven for feeling confused about their environmental benefits.

Environmentally-friendly goods are often overpriced for many consumers – and as the economic crisis continues to bite, policymakers are mulling tax incentives to make green shopping more affordable.

"Everything has to rethought in terms of the water problem," Austrian centre-right MEP Richard Seeber told EurActiv in an interview, commenting on the unanimous adoption of his report on water scarcity and drought by Parliament's environment committee yesterday (9 September).

Labelling schemes designed to shift consumer preferences towards more ecologically-friendly goods have had a limited effectiveness and need to be used in combination with other measures, according to panellists who debated the issue during a recent EBS workshop in Brussels, moderated by EurActiv.

A new report by the WWF has shown that the EU is continuing to consume its natural resources far faster than it can renew them, although the level of performance between different member states is widely diverging.  

The EU's Eco-design Directive seeks to make the design of energy-using products such as hairdryers, computers, fridges or office equipment more environmentally friendly. In future, energy performance requirements can also be imposed on products which have an indirect impact on energy consumption during use, such as window frames and water taps.

Humans currently consume 20% more natural resources than the earth can produce, according to a WWF report. But the 'ecological footprint' concept underlying the study is disputed by many specialists.