ECOS

📺 WATCH: We are drowning in #plastic and technology alone won’t get us out of this crisis. We need to transform how we produce and consume plastic – and crucially reduce plastic production to #sustainable levels. 🤝 The final round of the #PlasticsTreaty negotiations kicked off yesterday in South Korea. Delegations agreed that the ‘non-paper’ put forward by the Chair will serve as the basis for negotiations at #INC5. 🚦 The nonpaper is far from perfect - low-ambition language and omissions make it a weak starting point - but it is now the most feasible route forward for reaching an agreement within a reasonable timeline. 📉 The International Plastics Treaty must set ambitious, science-based goals to phase down plastic production. If producers keep churning out plastic as projected, no #waste management system can keep up. Binding, transparent targets across nations are the only way forward.

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e45Rd2sV Proactive material selection can significantly reduce extraction and embodied carbon in the #construction sector. But that can only happen if the information on the environmental performance of products is reliable and comparable! 👋 That's where Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) come in! EPDs are the most used tool in the sector with over 10,000 registered in 2021 in the EU. Learn more about how this tool can be improved to cover full environmental impacts: https://lnkd.in/e45Rd2sV

Plastic pollution harms us all—and now is our chance to do something about it ⏰ #PlasticsTreaty World leaders and plastics experts—including ECOS—are on their way to a historic negotiation: #INC5, the final round of negotiations for a UN treaty to end plastic pollution. ⛰️ With four preceding negotiations already wrapped up (and not a lot to show for it), there is a mountain to climb. But with all options still on the table, there is still hope for an ambitious treaty. And we really need it. ❌ Plastic pollution will triple by 2060—if we do nothing more to prevent it. National regulations targeting it over the past five years have not stopped oceanic #plastic pollution surging by over 50% during the same period. We’ve identified five essential outcomes that would truly make a difference in this treaty (link in comments) ⤵️

This week, we're authoring Climate Strategy & Partners bi-weekly #CleanTechEU thread to talk: ✅ The EU’s new #CleanIndustrialDeal ✅ Green #PublicProcurement 💡 Our take: Promoting innovation cannot overlook the role of GPP in driving decarbonisation and leading markets for sustainable technologies! 1️⃣ Our data shows that the green and economic savings to be had are substantial. If green public procurement rules were uniformly applied across the EU, emissions from #concrete and #steel would be cut by nearly 19 million tonnes! 2️⃣ And those emission savings don’t come with a big price tag! The upfront project costs would increase by no more than 3-4%. Not to mention, reducing emissions = lower costs than paying carbon prices to pollute-as-usual!  3️⃣ Despite the green and economic potential, #PublicProcurement remains overlooked across the EU! ✅ Only #Ireland and the #Netherlands have mandatory embodied carbon thresholds ✅ Only #Italy, #Malta, and the Netherlands have mandatory circularity criteria 4️⃣ But the EU has everything it needs to make GPP a norm rather than an exception. ✅ Positive examples from the #Paris Olympic Village to the #Gothenburg Harbour line extension! ✅ Low-carbon #steel and #concrete solutions that are ready to be scaled up! ✅ Political will! 5️⃣ Both the Enrico Letta and the #Draghi reports highlighted how important strategic public procurement will be for European industry! Plus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's political programme includes plans to revise the Public Procurement Directives! 6️⃣ Not to mention: The EU’s own climate goals, which it must use all the tools in its toolbox to achieve. Check out our recommendations to policymakers to unlock green public procurement’s full potential at the start of this new policy cycle: https://lnkd.in/eQVjKn4a 💚 That wraps up this edition of the #CleanTechEU thread! Thank you for reading. 👉 Be sure to follow Climate Strategy & Partners who is authoring the next edition in 2 weeks!

Many of our electronic devices—from phones, laptops and tablets, to shavers and electric toothbrushes—have built-in batteries that must be charged using an external power supply 🔌 The European Commission has just published a draft revision of its #ecodesign rules regulating these devices. ❔ What do they get right, and what must still be improved for sustainability?   Read our analysis of the latest draft of this legislation (link in the comments) ⤵️   #EWWR2024 #electronics #ewaste #sustainability

🏷️ Want to learn more about the key rules sustainability labels must follow to properly inform consumers and avoid #greenwashing when buying biobased products? Join this webinar with a presentation from Margaux Le Gallou (she/her), Programme Manager at ECOS. ➡️ Register: https://lnkd.in/ejriyWAh

🔴 Recording available: https://lnkd.in/ekPKrf8B Our conference 'Building blocks for the future: Pathways to sustainable construction' took place last week in Brussels! 📍 Together, we dove into underused levers in implementing ambitious sustainable #construction policies and #standards! 👀 Want to look back on the insightful discussions had? Weren't able to attend? ➡️ Watch the recording: https://lnkd.in/ekPKrf8B

One sector in particular deserves more attention when considering the role of green public procurement: #construction. The construction sector produces some of the most energy-intensive materials, such as #cement and #concrete. Meanwhile, public projects account for 31% of the sector’s activities, giving public authorities substantial purchasing power to drive the market towards truly green construction products. But first, it is crucial to ensure standards for cement and concrete are fully performance-based. Any delays will continue hindering the large-scale uptake of low-carbon materials – even with strong green public procurement measures in place – and, ultimately, prevent the EU from achieving its own climate goals for the construction sector. 👀 Check out this new report from ECOS, a member of the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete: https://lnkd.in/ejsfnxPu

The EU has everything it needs to unlock green public procurement’s full potential and lead the transition towards more sustainable #construction. ✅ Positive examples From the Paris Olympic Village to Gothenburg’s Harbour Line Extension, Member States are already putting green public procurement into practice! ✅ Low-carbon solutions Low-carbon #concrete and #steel solutions already exist and are ready to be scaled up! ✅ Political will Both the Letta and the Draghi reports highlighted how important strategic public procurement will be for European industry, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s political programme includes plans to revise the Public Procurement Directives! ➡️ Learn how decisionmakers can unlock green public procurement’s full potential in our new report: https://lnkd.in/eQVjKn4a