A3.9.2 European Action
According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, “The EU is committed to building improved resource efficiency into its economic strategy, starting with a “roadmap” this year. A new paper from the Institute sets out the challenges reviews the mixed results of previous EU policy in this area and suggests a number of ways forward. Both a broad vision and an array of practical policy initiatives are required.”
Recent new articles on resource use and green economy, as well as information on various research themes are available from their website: http://www.ieep.eu
A Resource Efficient Europe
The European Commission state that natural resources underpin our economy and our quality of life. Continuing our current patterns of resource use is not an option and that increasing resource efficiency is key to securing growth and jobs for Europe – bringing major economic opportunities, improve productivity, drive down costs and boost competitiveness.
On 26 January 2011 the European Commission published “A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy”. This is a flagship initiative as part of the Europe 2020 strategy and aims to create a framework for policies to support the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy to achieve sustainable growth.
This document states:
Natural resources underpin the functioning of the European and global economy and our quality of life. These resources include raw materials such as fuels, minerals and metals but also food, soil, water, air, biomass and ecosystems. The pressures on resources are increasing. If current trends continue, by 2050, the global population is expected to have grown by 30% to around 9 billion and people in developing and emerging economies will legitimately aspire to the welfare and consumption levels of developed countries. As we have seen in recent decades, intensive use of the world’s resources puts pressure on our planet and threatens the security of supply. Continuing our current patterns of resource use is not an option.
In response to these changes, increasing resource efficiency will be key to securing growth and jobs for Europe. It will bring major economic opportunities, improve productivity, drive down costs and boost competitiveness. It is necessary to develop new products and services and find new ways to reduce inputs, minimise waste, improve management of resource stocks, change consumption patterns, optimise production processes, management and business methods, and improve logistics. This will help stimulate technological innovation, boost employment in the fast developing ‘green technology’ sector, sustain EU trade, including by opening up new export markets, and benefit consumers through more sustainable products.
Using resources more efficiently will help us achieve many of the EU’s objectives. It will be key in making progress to deal with climate change and to achieve our target of reducing EU greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050. It is needed to protect valuable ecological assets, the services they provide and the quality of life for present and future generations. It will help us ensure that the agricultural and fisheries sectors are strong and sustainable and reduce food insecurity in developing countries. By reducing reliance on increasingly scarce fuels and materials, boosting resource efficiency can also improve the security of Europe’s supply of raw materials and make the EU’s economy more resilient to future increases in global energy and commodity prices.
Source: 26.01.11, European Commission, “A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy”
The full Strategy Document is available here: A3.9.2 resource_efficient_europe_en