Kicking the can down the road

21 December 2020

At the start of the 1990s, it was much easier to not litter. Over the last 30 years, supermarket chains and big drinks manufacturers like Red Bull have waged – and largely won – a war against reuseable drinks containers, pumping out a stream of throwaway bottles and cans that are harming wildlife, causing problems for farmers, and wasting finite natural resources. How do we push back?

Austria
24 May 2012

Europe steps towards resource efficient future

As pressure on world's natural resources increases rapidly, European Parliament showed overwhelming support today for measuring Europe's use of resources, in a step towards a resource efficient future, including full incorporation of resource efficiency into the Europe 2020 economic agenda. However, Europe will not make the most of the environmental, economic and social benefits of resource efficiency without clear targets to reduce, in absolute terms, Europe's consumption of resources, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.

18 May 2012

Take action for sustainable land consumption!

In Europe, we are currently consuming an area of land one and a half times the size of our continent. This amount is increasing and as a continent Europe is putting more and more pressure on the limited land the planet has left.

Our current land footprint is pushing up food prices, driving land-grabs, contributing to climate change and biodiversity loss, and increasing social inequalities.

Friends of the Earth believes urgent measures are needed to monitor and reduce Europe’s global land use.

Austria, Czech Republic, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Spain
30 April 2012

Over 100 organisations urge Commission to take account of full impacts of agrofuels

Over 100 civil society organisations, including Friends of the Earth Europe, wrote to the European Commission calling for the full climate impact of agrofuels, including indirect land use change, to be taken into account in two key pieces of EU legislation. The full letter can be downloaded on the right.

Cyprus, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Spain
25 April 2012

Europe ready for resource efficiency

European politicians laid foundations for a resource efficient Europe today, with wide political support shown for the need to measure Europe's resource use. This is a crucial first step towards reducing Europe's resource use, according to Friends of the Earth Europe, but the European Commission must follow suit in order for Europe to gain the benefits greater resource efficiency brings.

23 April 2012

New report uncovers land grab in Uganda

Released on the eve of a World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, a new report reveals widespread violations of people's rights and environmental destruction from a land grab initially funded by the World Bank in Uganda.

The Friends of the Earth Uganda report provides first-hand accounts from communities forced to give up their livelihoods, food supply and access to water.

22 April 2012

Stop land grabbing now: Land, life and justice in Uganda

Palm oil corporations Wilmar International and BIDICO, along with the Ugandan Government and the World Bank, have funded huge palm oil expansion on islands off the coast of Lake Victoria.

A quarter of the islands have already been planted with oil palm. Most of this land belonged to local communities and indigenous peoples.

26 March 2012

Airlines urged to move away from destructive jatropha

The airlines KLM and Air France vowed not to do business with Dutch company Waterland International following the publication of Friends of the Earth Netherlands report revealing the company's involvement in damaging jatropha cultivation in Java for the production of aviation biokerosene.

The report revealed threats to local food cultivation in Java, and the exploitation of farmers, following investments in jatropha from Waterland International.

Netherlands
2 February 2012

EU biofuel targets will cost €126 billion without reducing emissions

Brussels/Berlin/London, February 2, 2012 – Motorists across Europe are set to pay an additional €18 billion a year for petrol and diesel as a result of EU biofuel targets that have been shown not to reduce emissions, says new research published today [1].

New figures, commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe and ActionAid [2], show that the planned increase in biofuels use could cost European consumers an extra €94 to €126 billion between now and 2020. This despite evidence that biofuels will actually make climate change worse and increase global hunger [3].

12 January 2012

Lufthansa's bio-fuelled fantasy finally grounded

Berlin/Amsterdam/Brussels, January 12, 2012 – Lufthansa’s final flight of a controversial six-month trial of bio-fuelled flights will land today, bringing an end to a convenient smokescreen for aviation expansion, and a diversion from the real need to cut air travel in order to tackle climate change, according to Friends of the Earth Europe [1].

20 December 2011

A letter to the Danish European Union Presidency

As Denmark prepares to take over the presidency of the European Union in January for the first half of 2012, Friends of the Earth Europe has written a letter to the Danish Presidency calling on it to contribute to a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable future, for the people of Europe and other continents.

"The current global economic, financial, environmental and social crises present us with a challenge of historic proportions. Only an urgent, wide ranging and far reaching response can deal with this situation," the letter states.

Denmark

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