GREEN DEAL CHAMPIONS??

It's the final countdown. With less than 50 days to go before the EU Elections 2024, things are really heating up. Five of the biggest environmental organisations in Brussels have just launched the EU scoreboard, ranking EU political groups and national parties’ commitment to tackling climate and green issues based on their voting records. To achieve the rating, we assessed the individual votes of each MEP on 30 climate, pollution, and circular economy files. We were then able to classify political groups into environmental protectors, procrastinators, and prehistoric thinkers (so you don’t have to!).?

KEEPING SCORE???

THE?EU SCOREBOARD?is designed to help YOU discover which political parties champion the Green Deal and prioritise the wellbeing of both people and the planet. The EU needs elected representatives committed to bold action towards a cleaner, healthier Europe for all. Find out if your representatives in the EU Parliament kept their elections promises last time around, and who didn't...??

BEYOND THE BUBBLE:?In the biggest election year in history, EU elections fever is particularly contagious this time around. The latest Eurobarometer survey reveals that European citizens have a huge interest in the elections, with over 70% saying they’d be likely to vote if the elections were held next week – significantly more than in 2019. The survey also identified priority topics for Europeans, with defence and security, energy issues, and food security and agriculture leading – needless to say, all of which are dependent on the health of our planet. ?

TWO YEARS TO SAVE THE WORLD. Heads of states and governments met this week to discuss the 'strategic agenda’ that will guide the EU’s work during the next legislative cycle following the elections in early June. But despite the two-year deadline to ‘save the world’ announced last week by the UN’s climate chief, the leaked draft text takes a huge ecological step backwards from the 2019 agenda: none of the three priorities address the triple climate-biodiversity-pollution crisis that is posing an existential threat to humanity and our ecosystems.?Our Secretary General, Patrick Ten Brink, spoke to Al Jazeera.?

DONE AND DUSTED. As this EU term comes to an end, the window to finalise current Green Deal laws is closing – and these key files have just crossed the finish line. With the final Member States' stamp of approval, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) have surpassed the populist pressure threshold and are now ready to become law. The EPBD will address the energy inefficiency of 75% of EU buildings, while the IED will tackle emissions from the bloc’s largest industrial sites. Civil society made huge efforts to safeguard them from the attempts of populist forces to derail both laws several times. However, despite neither being as robust nor as powerful as they could have been, passing the finish line marks a crucial milestone in EU efforts to combat the climate crisis and build a greener future.?

FEEDING THE FUTURE??????

BREAKING BREAD IN BRUSSELS. From climate breakdown and ecosystem collapse to systemic inequality, human exploitation and declining health, our current food systems sit at the root of a number of major threats to our environment, livelihoods, and society at large. Last week, in partnership with our members Ecologistas en Accion (Spain) and AirClim (Sweden), we gathered in Brussels for a high-level event to dissect the issue of food systems, the challenges that current models present for both people and planet?–?and the solutions we already have to address them!?

WE'VE GOT THE ANSWERS! Joined by expert speakers from seven countries, and an audience from all over the world, we heard detailed case studies about the many direct impacts of today's harmful food systems?–?from production to consumption. Crucially, we explored the solutions that already exist, and are being implemented, to fix them. With the solutions at our fingertips, all that’s missing is an EU framework law for sustainable food systems to integrate and coherently guide these urgently needed shifts, and a reorientation of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.? Keen to explore further case studies on food systems? Check these two spanking new reports: 'The true price of food' (Ecologistas en Accion) and 'Food for Thought' (AirClim).?

READY MEALS? SORT IT OUT. This week, the EEB endorsed a major new study (commissioned by our partner environmental NGOs Fern and Madre Brava) into a specific aspect of our food systems: ready meals. Its findings? As The Guardian also reported, ready meals in their current state?pose a serious, and growing threat to people's health, as well as the wellbeing of our planet. ?

STILL HUNGRY? All is not lost. The report also showed how with a few concrete improvements to the composition of ready meals in the EU, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 48 million tonnes per year, while also saving consumers €2.8bn annually! Read the report and our socials on this (LinkedIn and Twitter).?

RALLYING FOR REFORM????

NEW RULES ON RESOURCES PLEASE! The way we extract and process resources fuels some of the most urgent environmental crises we face – climate change, biodiversity collapse, water shortages, and pollution – as well as social injustices. As a major consumer, the EU has a vital responsibility to reduce its outsized environmental footprint. While progress has been made on climate and biodiversity targets, a critical gap remains: managing our resource consumption. Over 100 organisations, academics, and think tanks are demanding change. They're calling for an EU Sustainable Resource Management Law. This law would establish science-based, binding targets to reduce resource use, mirroring the approach of the climate law.?

COMING UP NEXT: After years of debate, the controversial reform of the EU's fiscal rules is nearing is nearing its final hurdle – a European Parliament vote on April 23rd. Experts warn that these changes will usher in a new era of austerity, with devastating impacts on our communities and the fight for a sustainable and just future. Alongside 77 civil society groups, trade unions, and academics, the EEB urges MEPs to reject these reforms. Instead, we demand a financing strategy that prioritises a green and just transition.?

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