The European Union’s imprint on both the global environment and on environmental policy beyond its borders has been sizeable. This influence will likely remain in the years ahead, although its role as a driver of progress is challenged as major economic players and new international political dynamics emerge.
How should EU’s role evolve in a changing world? How can the EU and its Member States best support the delivery of global commitments, such as the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How should their implementation be held to account? What can Europe offer – and learn – through efforts on global dialogue and diplomacy? How can its own policies align better to global imperatives?
IEEP’s work on Global Challenges and SDGs focuses on the global dimension and external impacts of EU policies, both positive and negative. We support the development of environmental and environment-related policies with global implications as well as feed into relevant international processes and discussions. In particular, we aim to ensure that the EU will deliver on its commitments to the global climate and 2030 SDG agendas, both in terms of its internal and external policies.
Highlights
The 2010 EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) is one of the cornerstones of pollution control in the EU establishing a regulatory regime covering industrial activities that may cause pollution (to air, water and waste). The European Commission is proposing to amend the directive, which may cause legal divergence between the EU and UK. However, it is important to consider how industry is regulated in practice beyond the legal texts and compare this in the UK and in different EU member states.
On 29 and 30 June 2022, IEEP and IDDRI welcomed members of the Think2030 platform at Sciences Po, Paris to discuss the implementation status of the European Green Deal. This report is a summary of a two-day discussion among national and EU-level policymakers, experts, representatives of civil society and the private sector on how to make the Green Deal a reality.
The EU is moving ahead on its ambition to develop and implement a European circular economy, as ambitioned by the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and its subsequent proposals. However, this objective is inherently intertwined with the rest of the global trading system, in addition to continuous geopolitical developments which risk complicating an already complex transition.
When Ursula von der Leyen presented one of the most ambitious political projects to date in EU history, aiming at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, nobody could imagine that just a few months later, an unprecedented pandemic would lock down the whole EU. Yet, and despite strong pushes to derail the European Green Deal agenda as an immediate reply to the crisis, the Green Deal stayed afloat and was even slightly boosted through the national recovery and resilient plans.
In early 2022, IEEP created the Green Trade Network, a group of experts from over 20 European research organisations working on the trade and environment nexus. You will find here information on the network's activities as well as the editorial from its latest newsletter. Don't hesitate to subscribe!
This briefing provides support to the European Parliament delegation to the 10th session of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (5-15 July 2022).
Picking up on the numerous ongoing negotiations on Green Deal files in the legislative procedure, as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine and the energy price hike, the Barometer paints a picture of the Green Deal as it currently stands.
The European Commission has put forward a highly ambitious new Trade and Sustainable Development Action Plan, but how far does it go to deliver sustainability in free trade agreements?
Next week, join 200+ experts for the third edition of the Think2030 conference, co-organised by IEEP and IDDRI at Sciences Po in Paris.
International trade is a key enabler of a global and inclusive transition to a circular economy. However, inequities in power relations, digital trade capabilities, trade infrastructure, access to finance, and industrial and innovation capabilities mean that countries in the Global North are better positioned to reap the benefits of international trade than those in the Global South.
The circular economy involves a major paradigm shift, with economies transitioning away from a take-make-waste model to a sustainable model. In order to facilitate a just transition to a global circular economy the EU must seek to cooperate with its trade partners.
The circular economy involves a major paradigm shift, with economies transitioning away from a take-make-waste model to a sustainable model. The EU is a global leader and adopted its ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan under the Green Deal in 2020.
The Think2030 conference is back for its third edition! This in-person event, co-organised by IEEP and IDDRI, will centre the discussion on European Green Deal implementation by 2024 and beyond.
This report takes stock of the current status of the EU trade policy and proposes a set of recommendations for EU bilateral trade to make a positive contribution to sustainability globally. IEEP aims to contribute to the debate on the review of the European Commission's 15-points action plan to implement FTA TSD Chapters.
What’s next for the Green Deal? Contribute to the second edition of the European Green Deal Barometer, IEEP’s annual consultation on the implementation status of the Green Deal.
Building a more circular economy is key to sustainable growth and addressing challenges like climate change. Trade relations in particular are a crucial vessel to foster circular economy opportunities and support sustainable development in the global south.
Building a more circular economy is key to sustainable growth and addressing challenges like climate change. The uptake of the circular economy is increasing worldwide, and cooperation on an international level is key to unlocking the benefits of scale tied to a global circular economy.
In 2021, the European Commission committed to ending the use of cages for farmed animals within the EU before the end of 2023, but no estimate of the costs of compliance with the proposed legislation has been published as yet. This report considers the question of which sources of public funding, EU and national, could be used to aid the transition, alongside the contributions of producers themselves and others in the food chain.
As EU leaders meet in Versailles, energy is set to be a key topic. But leaders must ensure that the decisions they make to break away from Russian energy push the EU in the direction of sustainability, argue European sustainability think tanks.
This event aims to highlight the role that trade relations between the EU and Nigeria can have in fostering circular economy approaches and opportunities.
