Iskanje

The European Union (EU) has a strong leadership role, globally and regionally, in implementing the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development but as a matter of urgency its ambitions now need to be translated into strategies and actions. Major global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change, have all effectively reversed progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further exacerbated interrelated challenges relating to poverty, inequality, carbon ...

By 2050, an estimated two thirds of the world population will live in urban areas. Could vertical farming help feed this growing urban population sustainably by reducing the demand for agricultural land and shortening the travel distance between food production and consumption?

In June 2022, the European Commission adopted a new communication on international ocean governance. It reflects the priorities set under the European Green Deal and focuses on key threats, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The actions, 61 in total, are grouped under four objectives: strengthening the international ocean governance framework, making ocean sustainability a reality by 2030, ensuring security and safety at sea, and expanding ocean knowledge. As regards the EU's ...

For two decades, the EU has sought to modernise its preferential trade relationship with the sub-Saharan African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and establish free trade areas with regional groupings under so-called economic partnership agreements (EPAs). The process of establishing the EPAs has been longer and more complicated than initially expected, encountering criticism and opposition from civil society and some governments in ACP countries, who have been worried about the potential negative ...

Leaders and government officials from across the world are meeting at the annual climate summit amid warnings that it might soon be too late to take meaningful measures to slow down the global warming that threatens to impoverish life on Earth and is already causing weather anomalies. 'We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator... Humanity has a choice: Cooperate or perish,' United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said at the beginning of the meeting in Sharm ...

The 2022 G20 Summit, to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on 15 and 16 November, will bring together the major economies' leaders in a physical meeting for the first time since the pandemic began, providing opportunities to hold informal bilateral meetings in the margins of the summit (last year, the leaders of Russia, Japan, Mexico and China chose not to attend in person). In preparation for the summit, the Indonesian Presidency has focused on three interconnected pillars, namely the global health architecture ...

The highlight of the November I 2022 plenary session was the debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20 21 October 2022, during which European Union leaders discussed the latest developments in Russia's military campaign against Ukraine, Europe's energy crisis, and external relations – with China in particular. Members also debated Commission statements on the outcome of the modernisation of the Energy Charter, the EU response to the increasing crack-down on protests in Iran, ...

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed a directive on corporate sustainability reporting. The directive would establish new rules on sustainability reporting in the European Union, based on amending and enlarging the scope of reporting and increasing standardisation under the current Non-financial Reporting Directive. A provisional political agreement reached between the Parliament and Council is scheduled for a vote at first reading during the November I plenary session.

African countries, which disproportionately suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change, are aiming to strongly voice their position at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27, 6-18 November 2022) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is hosted by one of them, Egypt. African states and the African Union (AU) insist that richer industrial countries, which bear greater responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, should do more to tackle them. According to the African ...

The 'farm to fork' strategy is a roadmap to build a sustainable European Union (EU) food system, in line with the aims of the European Green Deal. Launched in May 2020, the strategy includes initiatives that are progressing at different speeds, within a lively political debate on the strategy's objectives and priorities. The EU institutions are helping to shape the various elements of the strategy. This is an update of an 'at a glance' note published in May 2021.