Green Deal should guide the recovery towards green growth
June 24, 2020
In a video conference meeting, EU Ministers agreed that the European Green Deal should guide the recovery towards green growth and a more resilient EU.
23 June 2020, EU environment and climate ministers discussed the contribution of environmental and climate policies to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed that the European Green Deal should guide the recovery towards green growth and a more resilient EU.
The discussions centred around how can measures from the European Green Deal most effectively contribute to the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and help to build resilience and create a more sustainable and future-proof Europe.
Also on the agenda was how can the implementation of the recovery plan ensure a stable and forward-looking investment environment that generates green growth and jobs, and keeping the EU on track towards achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050?
Tomislav ?ori?, Minister of Environment and Energy of Croatia who chaired the meeting said ”We want to build a modern, clean and healthy economy, which will help to secure the livelihoods of the next generations. The recovery plan can help kick-start Europe’s economy after the Covid-19 crisis, and it can at the same time boost Europe’s sustainability and climate action. This is why today’s discussion was so important. Public investments in the recovery after the COVID-19 crisis should respect the green oath to “do no harm” and we should strive to make financial support consistent with the EU’s climate and environmental objectives.”
Among the Ministers discussions was the circular economy, with a focus on recycling, a sustainable product policy and more action on plastics as well as a link with the upcoming strategy for chemicals. Many ministers underlined that the circular economy can boost in particular local job creation and increase resilience by making Europe less dependent on imports. The importance of creating a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials was also mentioned.
The farm to fork strategy and organic farming.
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%.
For the office imaging sector, the Green Deal will see 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).
Speaking to The Recycler earlier this year, Javier Martinez, President of ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturing Association said, “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.”
Categories : World Focus
Tags : COVID-19 ETIRA EU Green Deal
