Getting companies to report on their use of resources, like materials, water, land and carbon, as well as their impacts upon human rights, will help move Europe towards a resource efficient future that benefits people and planet. This was the message of a debate organised on Tuesday by the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and Friends of the Earth Europe.
Samsung Electronics has admitted for the first time that it uses tin in its products that's destroying tropical forests, killing coral and wrecking the lives of communities in Indonesia, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland reveals today.
A coalition of groups [1], including Friends of the Earth, Birdlife, Biofuelwatch, Compassion in World Farming and European Environment Bureau has united to call for European governments, and the EU as a whole, to reduce Europe's land footprint – the amount of land we use each year for food, textiles, wood, biofuels etc [2].
Brussels, February 14, 2013 – Europe is failing to manage its resources sustainably, unnecessarily sending valuable materials to incineration and landfill, according to a report published today by Friends of the Earth Europe. [1]
The European Union currently landfills and incinerates 60% of municipal waste. Valuable materials which could be recycled or re-used are being thrown away as rubbish, contributing to demand for more raw materials.
Europe’s land footprint is 640 million hectares a year – an area equivalent to 1.5 times the size of Europe itself. This is the land required to make everything that we consume, from food to material products to fuel.
On the 3rd December, Friends of the Earth Europe will be holding a conference discussing the causes of, and solutions too, Europe’s excessive land footprint. The half-day conference, ‘Resource Efficiency in Europe: reducing Europe’s land dependency and its impacts’, taking place in the conference hall of The Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, Brussels, will discuss the latest policy developments and environmental, social and economic benefits of moving to a resource efficient future.
A new briefing published today aims to highlight the substantial gains companies can make by improving their use of resources.
The recommendations come as the European Commission prepares to publish new draft legislation on Non Financial Reporting by companies (expected by the end of 2012). Friends of the Earth Europe considers that this is a important opportunity to get companies to report their use of key resources, like materials, water, land and carbon, thus helping to move to a resource efficient EU.
By Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy and Magda Stoczkiewicz
Europe is on the verge of a global resource crunch, and it is far from ready to tackle it. Over the next two days the European Parliament will vote upon recommendations to improve Europe's resource efficiency levels.The objective is to ensure that Europe maintains its prosperity in a resource-scarce world, while simultaneously building a better future for subsequent generations. But, will Parliament demand concrete actions that actually make a difference?
In Europe, we are currently consuming an area of land one and a half times the size of our continent. This amount is increasing and as a continent Europe is putting more and more pressure on the limited land the planet has left.
Our current land footprint is pushing up food prices, driving land-grabs, contributing to climate change and biodiversity loss, and increasing social inequalities.
Friends of the Earth believes urgent measures are needed to monitor and reduce Europe’s global land use.
As Denmark prepares to take over the presidency of the European Union in January for the first half of 2012, Friends of the Earth Europe has written a letter to the Danish Presidency calling on it to contribute to a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable future, for the people of Europe and other continents.
"The current global economic, financial, environmental and social crises present us with a challenge of historic proportions. Only an urgent, wide ranging and far reaching response can deal with this situation," the letter states.