Environment and climate ministers have said the EU must speed up its policy on the circular economy in order to mitigate climate change and halt the loss of biodiversity.
A meeting between the ministers was held on 11 and 12 July in Helsinki, attended by Karmenu Vella, commissioner for the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries, commissioner Jyrki Katainen, European Commission vice-president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, and Per Klevnäs, partner at Material Economics.
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Some of the topics discussed included material recycling, particularly in relation to textiles and outlining the content for a plan toward a circular economy.
“Climate change and biodiversity loss are the greatest challenges of our time. By moving from a single-use culture to a circular economy, the EU alone could halve industrial greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Improved recycling of materials would also reduce the pressure on nature caused by consumption. The EU’s competitiveness must be based on sustainability, on mitigation of climate change and sparing, long-term use of renewable natural resources,” said minister of the environment and climate change Krista Mikkonen.
According to the ministers, the goal must be a society that does not squander natural resources but creates new business opportunities from scarcity and problem-solving. Manufacturing and consumption must be based on six Rs of sustainability: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycle.
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They added the EU must continue its ambitious policy supporting the circular economy. Among other things, the ministers discussed the need to draw up a new circular economy action plan, a circular economy 2.0 that is, to speed up the implementation of the circular economy and expand circular actions into all priority sectors. New measures are needed especially in areas related to construction, textiles, mobility and food, they said.
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By GlobalDataFinland’s Ministry of Environment said it aimed to prepare conclusions on the circular economy based on the ministerial discussions, which the Environment Council will then discuss in the autumn. The conclusions will set out how the new Commission should promote the circular economy over the next five years.
“The time to solve the sustainability crisis is now. By working together, the EU can find solutions to both the climate crisis and to stopping the sixth mass extinction. Our window of time is closing. We must raise the EU’s profile as a global leader in climate action to the next level,” Mikkonen said.
