About: sustainability

What’s football’s carbon footprint?

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Transport, water and energy consumption, waste management... Sports events, like any  other massive event, have an important environmental impact. As the “green wave” hit Europe -and national football teams prepare for next year Euro 2020- we look at the carbon footprint of the king of sports: football.

EU will not ban artificial turf pitches but could impose restrictions

The European Union will not ban artificial turf pitches, at least yet, but the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) is looking at alternatives, as this material is an important source of microplastics.

Profit, planet, and people: Dublin stadium’s approach to sustainability

Controlling the social, economic and environmental impact of its activity should be at the core of the administration of a sports venue, managers of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin told EURACTIV in an interview.

Forest Green Rovers, the world’s greenest football club

A vegan menu, bamboo-made t-shirts, an organic pitch, a stadium 100% powered with renewable energy… in less than a decade, the Forest Green Rovers has become the first carbon-neutral club in the world. EURACTIV interviewed its manager.

Betis, the Spanish club committed to going climate neutral

Spanish football club Real Betis is well known for the colours of its T-shirt, green and white. But now they want to integrate that concept into their whole policy by leading the way in making soccer more sustainable.

UEFA faces criticism over carbon footprint for Euro finals

Criticism over football carbon footprint erupted as English clubs fans had to travel the world to see their teams playing against each other, thousands of kilometres away from home in Spain and Azerbaijan. 

Capital markets need to start making sustainability mainstream – report

We need to reboot the financial system and rethink old structures. This is what the OECD, the World Bank Group and the UN Environment Programme are calling for in their new joint report. Sustainable finance should become mainstream, but the market is still lagging far behind. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU-Brazil trade should be more sustainable, 600 scientists say

In an open letter, 600 European scientists and 300 indigenous groups are calling for the EU to insist on the respect for environmental and human rights standards in its current trade negotiations with Brazil.  EURACTIV Germany reports.

Bioeconomy in CAP – the economy of tomorrow?

In view of the threat of environmental damage caused by climate change, experts are putting a lot of hope in the bioeconomy as a future model in agriculture. But the question is – what kind of bioeconomy do we need? EURACTIV Germany reports.

MEPs must shun calls to weaken curbs on environmental and human rights abuses

MEPs face a crucial decision. Will they take heed of the global outcry from the climate strikes, or will they water down key financial regulation to tackle environmental and human rights abuses, ask Rachel Owens and Lis Cunha.

Tourism, Europe’s key asset, should be given priority, stakeholders say

Tourism is one of Europe's biggest assets and should therefore be more prioritised, MEPs, ministers and European Commission officials said at a recent EURACTIV event. They agreed the biggest opportunities are in sustainability, supporting local economies and improving communities around Europe.

Biofuels: Commission blacklists palm oil, throws soybeans lifeline

In an eagerly-awaited decision, the European Commission last week categorised palm oil as a high-emitting biofuel crop but provided some controversial exemptions for smallholders and spared soybeans from the delegated act's provisions.

Driving EU industry: Standing up to societal challenges

In late January, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete delivered a speech as part of a Post-COP24 High Level Debate, in which he drew attention to the bloc’s 2030 climate and energy goals and the EU's role in the global fight against climate change.

European Parliament votes for much greener cohesion policy

The European Parliament’s committee on regional development has voted on Cohesion policy regulation, and there is the clear intention of making Cohesion much greener from 2020. For the first time, there is also to be a ban on providing support for fossil fuels. EURACTIV Germany reports.

From field to city: Are direct deliveries a viable business model for farmers?

Most farmers sell their products to large food companies and therefore lose large proportions of their income to long supply chains. But individual farmers manage to sell directly to customers. Is this a viable model? EURACTIV Germany reports.

Reducing meat consumption to reduce CO2 emissions: a sustainable challenge

Eating habits are responsible for carbon dioxide emissions and many countries could improve their carbon footprint by changing them. European countries are not all equal in terms of CO2 emissions, but an effort could be made.

EU lighting up Africa with solar

Nearly €340 billion of investment will be needed to achieve universal access to electricity across Africa by 2030, the World Energy Network forecasts. That is a tall order. The combined grid capacity of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries is around...

Sustainability: Renewable energy in Europe’s clean energy transition

Climate change is an urgent issue that demands global action. Following the Paris Climate Agreement, Europe has embraced the clean power transition and set itself a goal of becoming the world’s number one in renewables.

Commission must double efforts towards a sustainable financial system

Robust and binding criteria are needed to build sustainable capital markets or we risk that both national legislators and financial investors simply ignore their investment’s impact, or revert to greenwashing, writes Anne van Schaik.

Opinion leaders identify seven pillars for ‘better’ EU action

CIVICO-Europa, an informal group set up by opinion leaders and later supported by politicians, presented today (20 March) a manifesto for the future of Europe, based on “doing much better together”, rather than the traditional way of “doing more”.

Looking at environmental performance across the supply chain

The environmental impact of business activity is often mistakenly limited to the direct operations of companies. In reality, it is the environmental performance of the supply chain as a whole that needs to be looked into, writes Christian Ewert.

Rethinking debt, redefining development

Europe cannot build healthy societies and vibrant economies on a degraded and diminished ‘natural capital’ as this ecological debt would ultimately lead to its demise, writes Demetres Karavellas.