Environment

Main menu new

Policy matters

Key reports and studies

Swedish eco-label offers detailed certification schemes
08/05/2015
Swedish eco-label offers detailed certification schemes
The Swedish eco-label In particular, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (Naturskyddsföreningen), which first issued the label in 1988, has developed criteria for biofuels, electricity supply, district heating and insurance, as well as transport and logistics. In these areas, varying...
Sweden
Catalonia seeks to promote greener goods and services through eco-labelling
08/05/2015
Catalonia seeks to promote greener goods and services through eco-labelling
An eco-label from Catalonia, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2014, seeks to promote goods and services from the region by highlighting their environmental credentials. The eco-label, the Emblem of Guarantee of Environmental Quality, was established in 1994 by the Catalan regional...
Spain
Ecolabels: a booming business
08/05/2015
Ecolabels: a booming business
Ecolabelling is a growth industry. The Ecolabel Index directory currently tracks more than 450 ecolabels spread across 197 countries. An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development analysis from 2013 found that the number of labels increased roughly fivefold between 1988 and 2009...
Eu
European Forum on Eco-innovation: environmental labelling, information and management schemes are central to the circular economy
26/05/2015
European Forum on Eco-innovation: environmental labelling, information and management schemes are central to the circular economy
Eco-innovation, as well as environmental labels, information and management schemes are essential to get Europe on the path to a circular economy. This was the primary conclusion of the 18th European Forum on Eco-innovation held in Barcelona, on 20-21 May. Over 300 stakeholders from across Europe...
Eu
‘CompA RE’: Baden Württemberg’s cleantech sector guide
03/06/2015
‘CompA RE’: Baden Württemberg’s cleantech sector guide
To guide potential cleantech investors through the diverse environmental technology sector in southwestern Germany, the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector of the German region of Baden-Württemberg introduced in 2011 an online ‘Competence Atlas’ ( This has...
Germany
France's Auvergne region emphasises support for eco-design and eco-innovation
03/06/2015
France's Auvergne region emphasises support for eco-design and eco-innovation
An eco-innovation support programme, put in place in the central French region of Auvergne by the regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( Through the programme, the CCIA provides eco-innovation expertise to companies that want to better control the environmental impacts of their products,...
France
Stimulating the circular economy
22/06/2015
Stimulating the circular economy
OVAM started the Flanders Materials Programme in 2012. It was based on the acknowledgement that Flanders is almost completely dependent on imports for a number of the raw materials that underpin its economy. Examples of resources that Flanders lacks include phosphates for food production and...
Belgium
Circular economy could double benefits from eco-innovation, study finds
25/06/2015
Circular economy could double benefits from eco-innovation, study finds
The European Union could be nearly a trillion euros per year better off by 2030 if a current surge of rapidly developing eco-innovations are put into practice within a circular economy framework, according to a study completed for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. New technologies and business...
Eu
Project proposes policy packages for servitisation
13/07/2015
Project proposes policy packages for servitisation
Servitisation, or selling the functions offered by a product rather selling the product itself, could play a major role in a more circular economy in the future. Servitisation already exists in a number of forms, such as the leasing or hire of vehicles or appliances, but in many other areas there...
United Kingdom
Circular economy and the role of eco-innovation
27/07/2015
Circular economy and the role of eco-innovation
The European Union is rich in skills and yet relatively poor in resources, importing six times more natural resources than it exports. With an expanding global middle class, the competition for resources is likely to impact our economy as well as the world’s environment. To address some of these...
Eu

Pages