We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Necessary cookies are required to support essential features of the Council's website. Optional cookies help us produce anonymous and aggregated statistical reports to better serve your needs.
With your permission, we will use cookies to produce aggregated, anonymous data about our visitors' browsing and behaviour on our website. We will use this data to improve your experience on our website.
EU environment ministers approved conclusions on ‘Europe’s Environment 2030 - Building a more circular and resilient Europe’.
Building on the 2024 mid-term review of the 8th environment action programme (8EAP) and the latest report on the state of the European environment, published by the European Environment Agency, ministers stressed the urgency of advancing both climate resilience and the transition to acircular economy, recognising the interconnectedness of both issues in addressing climate and environmental challenges such as pollution, biodiversity loss and resource scarcity.
In a time marked by pressing security and defense agendas it is necessary to reaffirm the need for environmental protection and its contribution to greater resilience in the EU. There is no doubt that climate resilience is one of the great challenges of our time. Millions of European citizens are directly affected by flooding and/or coastal erosion, and it calls for collective action across the entire EU. The transition to a circular economy is another of the major challenges facing the EU. There is a need for a strengthened market for secondary materials, increased oversight of online platforms, and we must protect the EU from unfair competition from third countries.
Magnus Heunicke, Denmark’s minister for environment
Ministers also exchanged views on the EU bioeconomy strategy, as recently presented by the European Commission. ‘Bioeconomy’ refers to the use of renewable biological resources (biomass) from land and sea, such as crops, forest products, fish, animals and micro-organisms, to produce food, materials and energy.
With a value of up to €2.7 trillion in 2023 and employing over 17 million people across the EU, the bioeconomy is key to Europe’s transition to a clean and competitive economy and its strategic autonomy. The strategy aims to unlock the potential of the bioeconomy by leveraging renewable biological resources from land and sea, scaling up bio-based innovation and reducing dependency on fossil imports.
With mounting challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and increasing global competition, there is an urgent need for the EU to accelerate its transition towards a sustainable, innovative, and circular bioeconomy. Now it is extremely important to turn the Commission’s strategy on bioeconomy into real action on the ground to deliver on the vision to build a competitive, resilient and sustainable bioeconomy in the EU by 2040.
Jeppe Bruus, Denmark’s minister for green transition
Ministers welcomed the strategy as a timely and comprehensive framework to strengthen the EU’s resource efficiency, support the scaling up and transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy, while contributing to climate-neutrality,growth, competitiveness and job creation, including in rural and coastal areas.
Ministers highlighted the need to ensure the sustainable sourcing and availability of biomass over the long term, taking into account ecosystem health, biodiversity and competing uses, as well as the importance of maintaining the EU’s strategic autonomy. Ministers also stressed the importance of mobilising local value chains and ensuring that the bioeconomy delivers tangible benefits for local communities, while calling for stronger coordination across policies and governance levels and for global partnerships.
Equitable and sufficient access to financing options and technological innovations across the EU member states was also raised. Furthermore, ministers focused on the need for an effective implementation that would uphold the strategy’s ambition while at the same time avoiding excessive administrative hurdles, especially for small and medium size operators.
the 30th conference of the parties (COP 30) to the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) (Belém, Brazil, 10–21 November)
the eight meeting of the parties (MOP 8) to the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (Geneva, Switzerland, 17–21 November)
the 20th conference of the parties (CITES CoP 20) to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 24 November – 5 December)
Ministers also heard from the Commission on the progress of EU’s missions on climate-neutral and smart cities and on adaptation to climate change under Horizon Europe.
Commissioner for environment, Jessika Roswall, presented her annual report on simplification, implementation and enforcement. In that context, the Commission also presented the recent environmental simplification package.
Poland informed ministers on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and how it can affect technical, non-commercial electricity imports from Ukraine to the EU member states.
Austria provided information on the dangers posed by lithium batteries and the feasibility and potential benefits of introducing an EU-wide battery deposit system.
Ministers also heard from France and other member states on the urgent need for action at European level on the environmental and economic effects of ultra-fast fashion.
