European Commission Roadmap to Resource Efficiency published
Last month the European Commission published its ‘Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe’. The Roadmap contains a series of medium- (2020) and long-term (2050) resource efficiency objectives as well as the means needed for achieving them, including targets by 2013 and milestones for 2020.
It also proposes a number of actions to be carried out by the Commission.
These include:
- Defining appropriate resource efficiency targets by 2013;
- Proposing legislative measures with the aim of increasing resource efficiency;
- Producing a methodology to identify the environmental footprint of products;
- Defining indicators on resource use;
- Putting forward proposals to use 'Innovation Partnerships' for meeting resource efficiency goals (for example, raw materials);
- Reinforcing the secondary materials markets and stimulate demand for recycled materials through appropriate economic incentives;
- Further promoting developing payments for ecosystems services at national, EU and international level and;
- Invite Member States to shift taxation away from labour to environmental impacts.
The Roadmap builds on and complements other initiatives under the flagship, such as the Roadmap for a low-carbon economy, the White paper on transport adopted in Spring 2011 and the Energy Roadmap, expected late 2011. The Resource Efficiency Roadmap also builds upon the 2005 Thematic Strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources and the EU's sustainable development strategy. The Commission will now prepare appropriate policy and legislative proposals to implement it.
For further information and to read the Roadmap:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency
