Together with other NGOs and academics, this position paper sets out why we need to set targets to reduce EU resource consumption and waste generation in the European Commission’s new Circular Economy Action Plan, ahead of its release in March 2020. We urge that a headline target to halve the EU material footprint by 2030 …
Re-rooting EU food supply: towards healthy forests and social justice
EU demand for beef, soy (for animal feed) and palm oil is driving deforestation in the Global South. This briefing looks at what is driving the problem, the limitations of current approaches to tackle it (including sustainability certification schemes), and proposes a way forward based on a broad policy perspective based on ensuring food sovereignty.
Re-rooting EU food supply: towards healthy forests and social justiceRead more
Civil society letter to new AGRI committee MEPs
Together with over 20 other civil society organisations, we wrote to newly-elected MEPs sitting on the European Parliament’s agriculture committee to outline some of the urgent crises facing our food and farming system, and how we want to collaborate to fix them.
Open letter on the Farm to Fork strategy to achieve sustainable food systems
The European Commission is promising to overhaul our food and farming system with its Farm to Fork Strategy as part of its European Green Deal. But will it really shift agriculture away from industrial farming, support farmers and stop climate and ecological breakdown? In our open letter to Executive Commission Vice-President Timmermans, Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski, …
Open letter on the Farm to Fork strategy to achieve sustainable food systemsRead more
Beyond repair? The Energy Charter Treaty
An obscure investment agreement, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), threatens to undermine bold climate action to transform Europe’s energy system. But as negotiations begin for the reform of the treaty, this paper asks, is it beyond repair? When it comes to ending its protection for fossil fuels, and scrapping investor rights for climate-damaging industries, the …
Thriving civic space for strong European democracy
Civil society organisations have a critical role to play in a healthy democracy – bringing people’s voices to decision-making, and holding governments, institutions and corporations to account. Regrettably civil society rights are under threat globally, including in Europe. The Friends of the Earth Europe network is experiencing shrinking space in all its forms. This briefing …
