BRIEFING: EU Green deal, greener world
January 31, 2020
The European Union (EU) green deal will do a lot to pave the way for future environmental gains.
On 11 December 2019, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission announced the Green Deal, part of the EU agenda for Europe.
Just weeks into her new role as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal is an ambitious programme to transform Europe into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
The Green Deal maps out Europe’s strategy to becoming the first climate-neutral continent, by proposing several measures to reduce the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions and increasing biodiversity.
The Green Deal is an ambitious programme including a European ‘Climate Law’ enshrining the 2050 climate neutrality objective in legislation by March 2020. Later next year there will be a comprehensive plan to increase the EU’s climate target for 2030 to at least 50% and towards 55%.
On the Green Deal agenda are plans to revise all relevant legislative measures to deliver on this increased ambition by June 2021. At the same time to revise the Energy Taxation Directive and propose a carbon border adjustment mechanism for selected sectors by 2021. And by the end of 2020, adopt a new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change.
The six pillars of the agenda are:
- A European Green Deal – Europe to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
- An economy that works for people – Europe to strive for more when it comes to social fairness and prosperity.
- A Europe fit for the digital age – Europe to strive for more by grasping the opportunities from the digital age within safe and ethical boundaries.
- Protecting the European way of life – Europe to strive for more when it comes to protecting our citizens and our values.
- A stronger Europe in the world – Europe to strive for more by strengthening our unique brand of responsible global leadership.
- A new push for European democracy – Europe to strive for more in nurturing, protecting and strengthening our democracy.
For the office imaging sector, the Green Deal winds of change start to blow early in 2020. The introduction of an EU industrial strategy to develop markets for climate-neutral and circular products and the adoption of a new circular economy action plan. The plan will include a sustainable products initiative and legislative reforms tackling waste, especially those that are considered resource-intensive (such as textiles, construction, and plastics).
Javier Martinez, President of ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturing Association told The Recycler, “The Green Deal is an excellent opportunity for the reuse community to secure a larger market share as the sector contributes to delivering the green agenda. As an industry, we also envisage a level of funds and support to develop further circular strategies and defend and increase existing ones. It is also crucial that market surveillance authorities have sufficient powers to identify, sanction and stop at the EU border level, non-compliant products that may distort the market.
The Circular Economy is about a robust environmental economy and social commitment, that will see manufacturing and reuse activities and jobs relocated back to Europe.”
An end to “green washing”? The implementation of the Green Deal will require reliable, comparable, and verifiable information to enable informed decision making regarding more sustainable choices in the circular economy and enable all players to identify greenwashing marketing and practices.
You can download the EU “Communication on the European Green Deal” here.
Categories : World Focus
Tags : Climate EU Green Deal
