The European Commission has outlined possible “transition pathways” to address the environmental impact of the construction sector

Europe’s construction ecosystem employs approximately 24.9 million people but it is also extremely fragmented with 99.9% of the companies being SMEs. Nikolaus J. Kurmayer discusses on the EURACTIV website the plans of the European Commission to transform the sector and that digitalisation could be the silver bullet to address all the problems – lack of … Continue reading The European Commission has outlined possible “transition pathways” to address the environmental impact of the construction sector →

A two-hour streamed film pollutes as much as a 45-minute car drive

Stefano Bonetti, Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at Ca' Foscari University of Venice writes on The Conversation website about the carbon footprint of video streaming. What are your views? Could video streaming be as bad for the climate as driving a car? Calculating Internet’s hidden carbon footprint We are used to thinking that going … Continue reading A two-hour streamed film pollutes as much as a 45-minute car drive →

“…humanity needs to make peace with nature, because we are out of harmony with nature”

With those words, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Montreal this month. Alexandra Zimmermann, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford writes on the Conversation website asking what living in harmony with nature looks like. UN biodiversity conference: what does living in harmony with nature … Continue reading “…humanity needs to make peace with nature, because we are out of harmony with nature” →

New EEA report assesses the state of national adaptation actions in 2021

EU Member States recognise the importance of adapting to impacts of heatwaves, droughts, floods, heavy precipitation and changing temperatures and of mainstreaming climate change adaptation to a wide range of affected areas like agriculture, or water and disaster risk management. These are key findings of a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published this week which … Continue reading New EEA report assesses the state of national adaptation actions in 2021 →

How “loss and damage” was handled at COP27

Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University in Bangladesh and a friend of EiD has argued for many years that developing countries need serious support to address their own concerns because of climate change. One of the few positive outcomes of COP27 was the agreement to … Continue reading How “loss and damage” was handled at COP27 →

Preparing for COP28: The Emirates are seeking international clout as the Gulf’s most proactive nation on climate action

The Gulf oil and gas exporter is going big on renewable energy investment and food security, while expanding hydrocarbon production. Chloé Farand reviews the plans of the UAE host of COP28 in an article on the Climate Change News website. UAE plans to have it both ways as Cop28 climate summit host If there … Continue reading Preparing for COP28: The Emirates are seeking international clout as the Gulf’s most proactive nation on climate action →

Developing an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution

Michael Birnbaum writes on the Washington Post website about negotiations underway in Uruguay to have an international treaty to reduce plastic pollution. No one says it will be easy. For those wanting to follow latest developments, please go to the Energy Negotiations Bulletin website of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Work is … Continue reading Developing an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution →

Hope is not lost: 2022 was an historic year for international climate policy

A lot of the reports out of COP27 in Egypt reflect failure of the international community to make any progress to raise the ambition needed to stay on the path to limit global warming to 1.5℃. Katherine Lake, Research Associate at the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law at the University of Melbourne takes … Continue reading Hope is not lost: 2022 was an historic year for international climate policy →

New EEA publication on Europe’s commitments for sustainability and energy system from the perspective multiple, interconnected crises

The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) assessments have shown that Europe and world face unprecedented environment and climate challenges that require ambitious policy responses, such as the European Green Deal. Published recently, EEA Signals 2022 looks at Europe’s commitments for sustainability and energy system from the perspective multiple, interconnected crises. Moving towards sustainability in times … Continue reading New EEA publication on Europe’s commitments for sustainability and energy system from the perspective multiple, interconnected crises →

The latest EU state to leave the Energy Charter Treaty: Luxembourg

The Luxembourg government has decided to exit the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), an international trade and investment agreement concluded in the early 1990s to protect investments in the energy sector, Luxembourg’s Minister of Energy and Spatial Planning, Claude Turmes, announced on Friday 18 November. Frédéric Simon discusses latest developments in an article on the Euractiv website. … Continue reading The latest EU state to leave the Energy Charter Treaty: Luxembourg →