Details

Important to inform consumers correctly / Over-bureaucratic ideas by some in the Commission avoided

On Wednesday, the European Commission presented its proposal on so-called “green claims”. If a company claims that their product or service is in particular good for the environment, for example, that it is carbon neutral or uses 50% of recycled content, this should be sustained by appropriate evidence.

Peter Liese, environmental spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) welcomed the proposal: “It is very important that if you claim that you product or service is environment friendly, you also have some evidence for this. It is important that consumers can easily identify environment and climate friendly products and be sure that these claims are true. The proposal will not only fight greenwashing but also harmonise the oversupply of about 230 ‘green’ labels currently found on the European market. This will benefit those companies that are actually moving in the right direction. Generally, I am very happy that the proposal is not over-bureaucratic. It would not be a good idea if a small or medium sized company had to hire consultants or pay high amounts of money to lawyers just to clarify that they do something that is positive but quite obvious,” said Liese. In an earlier draft, the Commission proposal was much more sophisticated and companies would have had a lot of bureaucratic burden.

Details

This document must shake up all those responsible worldwide and motivate them to do even more to protect the climate / Promote negative emissions more strongly / Climate-neutral industry as a model for the world / Implement border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) with commitment


"This document must shake up those responsible worldwide and motivate them to do much more to protect the climate," this was the reaction of the environmental spokesman of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr Peter Liese, to the publication of the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The publication of the report had been delayed because China in particular had tried massively to water down the findings. However, the report now forcefully points out the drastic damage that unchecked climate change will cause for future generations. It emphasises that the 1.5 degree limit can still be met, but that this requires technologies that not only limit emissions, but also remove CO2 from the atmosphere. These technologies (Carbon Dioxide Removal - CDR) must be significantly expanded. The report also emphasises that in some regions of the world the decoupling of CO2 emissions and quality of life has begun meaning high quality of life is achievable with low emissions.

Details

Combustion engine phase-out is and remains wrong, but German Liberals woke up too late / No short-term solution in sight / The dispute will weigh on the EU summit, but the summit will not bring a solution / Damage goes far beyond climate and environmental policy


“The EU institutions' decision to phase out the internal combustion engine is and remains wrong. Politics should only set targets and not ban certain technologies. Climate-neutral e-fuels should be part of the solution,” affirmed the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Peter Liese. Nevertheless, Liese massively criticised the approach of the German Federal Minister for Transport Volker Wissing and the German Liberals: “Mr Wissing and the Liberals in the government have agreed to the combustion engine phase-out three times at European level. Firstly, in June in the Council of Ministers; secondly, in October after the trilogue, when Wissing literally stated that he welcomed the EU's decision to phase out the internal combustion engine1; and thirdly, in November, when the German government agreed to the compromise in the Committee of the Permanent Representatives to the EU after consulting the Ministry of Transport. The current uproar is not justified by a change of facts, but is a purely political manoeuvre after the disastrous election result in Berlin for the FDP. This is not the way to do politics in Europe. The damage goes far beyond environmental and climate policy. In the future, every member state will be able to call everything into question again after the negotiations have been concluded and after it has been agreed several times. This can affect Germany massively, because we depend much more on a functioning European Union, especially a functioning internal market, than other member states.”

Details

Massive effort on negative emissions and stronger global orientation of European climate policy /Aim is climate-neutral industrial region as a model for other parts of the world / Negotiate hard on implementation of border adjustment mechanism CBAM

Next Monday, the highly anticipated latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be published. The scientists are expected to warn in particular about the danger of extreme weather events. “The individual reports on which the so-called synthesis report of the IPCC is based on describe quite clearly that extreme weather events, such as the floods in Germany in July 2021 and extreme drought in many regions of the world are linked to climate change, and that these events will become much more frequent if we do not counteract them vigorously. I expect this to be clearly underlined again on Monday," said the environmental spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr Peter Liese.

  1. Vote on important climate law: Environment Committee supports drastic reduction of the so-called f-gases
  2. Amendment of the Medical Devices Regulation
  3. Overcome dependency from Russian oil and gas / Breathing space for electricity consumers and industry
  4. ETS Reform supported by huge majority in European Parliament’s Environment Committee