EU Environment and Climate

Welcome to episode 5 of Emission Impossible! 🌍 As we dive into the final preparations ahead of COP30, we sat down with Jake Werksman, the Head of Delegation for the EU negotiating team, to explore the EU’s ambitions and expectations — and to take a closer look at the complex work negotiators are doing behind the scenes. 💬 "Every COP is different," says Jake. "This year is somewhat unique because the real measure of success won’t come from negotiations alone, but from how countries deliver on their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement."    Jake says it’s clear that while many NDCs remain insufficient, they do reflect concrete efforts and implementation is improving. The key at COP30 in Belém will be to recognise and take action on the ambition gap, highlight the progress made, and show how shifting investments  are driving change.    🤔 Have you ever wondered how a complex international negotiation like this works, or if it’s worth all the effort? Jake also shares his insights on how the EU team prepares and negotiates with its international partners, and what the COPs are achieving.    🎥 Watch the full interview below!

How do you protect fish & support the fishing sector? 🐠 Today, the European Commission released new guidance to help EU Member States better protect marine #Natura2000 protected sites while supporting a sustainable future for Europe’s fisheries.   This will help strengthen biodiversity protection & the long-term resilience of the fishing sector with practical guidance on:   ✅Assessing if fishing activities threaten protected habitats and species in Natura 2000 sites ✅Evaluating potential impacts based on site-specific conservation objectives  ✅Putting in place measures to prevent habitat deterioration and significant disturbance of species, as well as necessary restoration measures.     Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eFGuSzYS   A concrete example of how this can look like is the LIFE A-MAR NATURA2000 project that promotes sustainable behaviors in the management of Natura 2000 Marine Sites 👉https://lnkd.in/e3UzVGgv   #EUBiodiversity #LIFEprogramme

Biogas and biomethane are powering Europe’s clean transition, but are often misunderstood. 🌿 They turn waste into energy, cut emissions, and strengthen local communities. Our latest article together with EU Energy highlights five facts that show what they can do: ⚡ Clean, safe, and renewable energy 🌱 Capture methane before it escapes 💚 Support farmers and rural jobs 🏭 Replace fossil fuels in hard-to-electrify sectors 🔁 Create useful by-products for soil and industry Biogas and biomethane aren’t just buzzwords — they’re reliable, homegrown solutions driving Europe’s clean energy transition. 🌍💚 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eKthXxmq #EnergyFacts #Biogas #Biomethane

The EU has launched a new international strategy to strengthen its leadership in the global clean and resilient transition.🌍 This plan seeks to: 💡 Strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in climate and clean tech markets 🤝 Deepen alliances with global partners in clean energy and resilience 🗺️ Strengthen Europe’s role as a global leader in sustainable solutions It’s a blueprint for how the EU can turn its climate ambition into global influence, ensuring that the clean transition is not only green, but also fair, resilient and future-proof. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dEiWvtzz

The world has become increasingly more complex and unpredictable over the past five years, and especially in the last twelve to eighteen months multilateralism has come under more pressure with heightened tension, geopolitical rivalries and more transactional relationships. In such a changed context, we’ve had to rethink the EU’s global climate and energy vision. Our new strategy for securing Europe’s competitive role in world markets and accelerating the clean transition was adopted today by the College of Commissioners. 👉 Why? Clean investments have overtaken fossil fuel funding: for every 1 euro invested in fossil fuels globally, 2 euros are invested in clean energy. The question is no longer whether the clean transition is happening but how fast, where, and who will benefit. The EU is all in: we want to speed up the global transition while leveraging our industrial and technological strengths. Europe should continue to be a climate leader, but it needs pay off for our people and economy! 👉 What? It needs to be first and foremost about effective multilateral cooperation. In 2015, the world was headed towards 3.7°C of warming by 2100. Thanks to the Paris Agreement, today we’re on a path to reach 2.7°C. We could even get to 2.1-2.3°C. 👉 How? We’ll use different tools including a very important one in climate policy: carbon pricing. In the last ten years, the number of countries introducing carbon pricing has doubled. The EU is already working closely with many countries on this and keen to continue with others. It’s encouraging to see major economies like China, Japan and Brazil recently adopt and expand carbon pricing policies. Big thanks to all my colleagues Kaja Kallas, Teresa Ribera and Dan Jørgensen for all their work and good collaboration.

The NEW Pact for the Mediterranean aims at co-creating a space of peace, prosperity & stability through a genuine partnership - and with a strong environmental element: 🤝 Addressing pollution: establishing a regional plan to facilitate investments in modern wastewater treatment and solid waste management. 💧Launching new Partnerships for Water Resilience to strengthen cooperation on integrated water resource management, in particular water reuse. ♻️ Eliminate single use plastics, promoting circularity, including for example on textiles and resource-efficiency. 🌍 Supporting the joint implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework Towards a sustainable and resilient #Mediterranean! More: https://lnkd.in/eBDpCsHY #WaterWiseEU #together4med

What do apples, carrots, potatoes, nuts, and peas have in common? They’re all climate-friendly foods. 🌱    These everyday foods leave a light footprint on the planet - using little energy, land, and water, and have some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of any common foods.     What we eat - and how that food is produced - affects not just our health but also the planet. From farm to fork, food systems account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.    🌍 This #WorldFoodDay, remember: what’s good for the planet can also be good for people. Choosing more climate-friendly foods - like apples, carrots, oats, nuts, and peas - is one simple step toward a more sustainable future. 

BREAKING: Over 40% of butterflies unique to the European region and found nowhere else in the world are now threatened or close to being so. 🐝 Nearly 100 additional wild bee species in Europe have been classified as threatened 🐝🔴 The mining bee species Simpanurgus phyllopodus, the only species of this genus in Europe and unique to the continent, is now assessed as Critically Endangered. 🦋 The number of threatened European butterfly species increased by a sharp 76% over the last decade 🦋🔴 One species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni), which was restricted to the Portuguese island of Madeira, is now officially classified as Extinct. Intensive agriculture, pollution and rising temperatures pose main threats Read the more about the assessment for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://lnkd.in/e9GjYGK6 #EUBiodiversity

🏆 Science meets climate action! Last week it was announced that The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) - ultra-porous materials that can trap CO₂, capture hydrogen, even pull water from the air. Just imagine: a few grams of MOF powder can have the internal surface area of a football pitch, making it a powerful tool in the race to decarbonize. The EU backs MOF development through Horizon Europe, the Innovation Fund, and carbon removal frameworks. Let’s celebrate this leap in clean tech, because when we warp chemistry, we reshape what’s possible for a healthier planet. 🌍💚 🔗 Read more: article in the comments