Eurobrief July/August 2009

EDITORIAL EU-ETS: Work in progress paves the way for key decisions August 2009 - The summer recess in Brussels typically shows a contrast between a very busy month of July, when the European Commission clean their desks, and a sleepy August when most Eurocrats enjoy a well deserved rest.

OTHER NEWS EU urged to align impact assessment Directives A new consultancy report produced for DG Environment has argued that the EU should consider aligning its two environmental assessment Directives

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Pressure group calls for tighter ETS caps A recent report from the climate NGO Sandbag urges the EU to tighten caps on energy and industrial emissions for 2020 to ensure that greater cuts are achieved.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Carbon market boosted by recession According to a report released by market analysts Point Carbon, the global carbon market has shown rapid growth in the past year, confounding World Bank predictions that the global carbon market would lose around a third of its value in 2009.

ENVIRONMENT European attitudes on sustainable consumption and production A recently conducted Eurobarometer poll (Flash 256) entitled ‘Europeans’ attitudes towards the issue of sustainable consumption and production’ has explored the views that European citizens hold on product sustainability.

ENVIRONMENT Leinen new chair of Environment Committee Jo Leinen, the veteran socialist MEP, has been appointed chair of the new European Parliament’s Environment Committee.

ENVIRONMENT Adaptation to climate change: white paper The Commission presented a new working document to the Agriculture and Fisheries Council about adapting policy to the pressures resulting from climate change on 13 July.

ENVIRONMENT Concrete sustainability initiative report published A new report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) has put forward a target of ‘zero landfill’ of concrete via concrete recycling.

ENVIRONMENT Protected species and habitats: communication (NATURA) ‘Only a small proportion of vulnerable habitats and species protected under EU law have achieved good conservation status’...

ENVIRONMENT Forum of major economies fails to agree to emission cuts The Major Economies Forum (MEF) which met alongside the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy on 9 July 2009 and gathered leaders of all the world’s major greenhouse gas emitters failed to agree on a long-term goal to halve global emissions by 2050.

ENVIRONMENT Swedish Presidency puts environment at heart of priorities The new Swedish Presidency of the EU put the environment at the heart of its priorities for its six-month spell as chair of the European Council.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Compromise likely on buildings Directive EU energy ministers have indicated that that they are willing to consider a number of amendments to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which is currently being recast.

WASTE Market increase in hazardous waste shipments Hazardous waste shipments out of the EU rose fourfold between 1997 and 2005, according to a recent Commission report on the implementation of EU waste shipment legislation.

HEALTH AND SAFETY Commission publishes details of REACH monitoring A study on how the European Commission plans to monitor the effectiveness of implementing REACH regulations has been published.

HEALTH AND SAFETY Consortium to prepare registration of flue dust A Cimeurope Consortium is being put in place to prepare a joint Registration dossier for flue dust from cement clinker production.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU participates in Asia Pacific partnership on clean development and climate CEMBUREAU recently took part in the first Cement Trade Associations Policy Workshop, held in Seoul, Korea, the day before the 7th Cement Task Force Meeting of the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate.

OTHER NEWS Majority of Europeans favour alternative fuels A recent Eurobarometer poll of European citizens shows that 75% of Europeans think that alternative fuels should be used to reduce greenhouse gases.