WWF European Policy Office

Our planet has had quite a year, with talks of simplification, deregulation, an omnibus commitment, and proposals to weaken important environmental laws even though Europe’s green transition is already well underway! 🌱

Our message to the Commission: Stop delaying the phase-out of soy biofuels. 24 NGOs, including T&E, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, WWF European Policy Office, and Oxfam EU office have called on the European Commission to stop delaying the publishing of the scientific data on the expansion of palm and soy feedstocks into highly biodiverse areas. Soy-based biodiesel emits up to twice as much CO2 as the fossil fuel diesel it is used to replace when taking into account the indirect deforestation it causes. What’s more, between 2015 and 2022, the consumption of soy biodiesel in the EU experienced a fivefold increase, much of which can be attributed to a massive surge of imports from other regions, particularly South America. The EU must immediately phase out palm and soy biofuels from renewable energy targets due to the devastating impact they have on the climate, human living conditions, biodiversity, and energy independence. Read our joint letter now ➡️ https://lnkd.in/d2etYtWF #NotInMyTank

🌱 We're hiring! WWF EU is looking for a consultant to develop a checklist for assessing National Restoration Plans, a key element of implementing the EU Nature Restoration Law. The work (final report) will need to be delivered by the end of April 2025. The budget available is max. 15.000 EUR, VAT included. More info & how to apply: https://lnkd.in/efkKtsD6

Earlier this week, 28+ civil society organisations sent an open letter to the new College of Commissioners to call on Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner Dan Jørgensen and Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas to use ETS revenues wisely to support #ClimateAction, citizens and communities. From 2024 to 2030, Member States are expected to raise more than € 200 billion in revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (#ETS). These revenues need to be spent wisely to achieve the most direct emission reduction and support vulnerable citizens from bearing excessively the costs of the transition. Our recommendations: - Amend the EU ETS Directive to ensure additionality and Do No Significant Harm principles are guiding the revenue spending; - Focus on significant climate investments for industry, rather than carbon leakage protection, by phasing out all free allocation to increase the Innovation Fund, and end indirect cost compensation in the next ETS review; - Support affordability of the necessary emission reductions for lower income groups through ETS2 revenues and expansion of the Social Climate Fund; - Monitor Member States spending and enforce the earmarking foreseen by the ETS Directive. Read the full letter 👇 https://lnkd.in/eEaNz2TS

📢 𝐀 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐔 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 With Europe’s sustainability transition at a crossroads, 90+ organisations representing civil society, business, banks and investor interests, have joined forces to publicly respond to President von der Leyen's omnibus proposal. At a moment where European leaders are seeking to boost competitiveness and attract major financing to support companies’ sustainability transition, the statement emphasises:  🔸 The role of the EU sustainability legal framework as a catalyst for economic transformation 🔹 Companies’ need for legal certainty over short-sighted political reactions 🔸 The importance of promoting a pragmatic implementation that prevents over-compliance approaches 🔹 The risk-based nature and built-in flexibility of the EU standards  🔸 The need to protect the EU market and level the playing field globally We strongly encourage policymakers to focus on supporting a smart and easy implementation of EU sustainability reporting standards, instead of playing ping-pong with the legal framework. Read the full statement here: https://lnkd.in/dANPHmRB

📨 In an open letter, together with 20+ civil society organisations, we call on Executive Vice-President Ribera Rodríguez and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra to put climate action and a just transition for EU agriculture at the core of their work. A transition is inevitable, but for it to be just, Europe must act now. For a truly sustainable and #JustTransition we need: 🎯 a real climate target 🐄 a long-term strategy on livestock 💰 a transition fund to get us there Read the full letter here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eAiSVxEa

🚨 Ursula von der Leyen'𝘀 𝗼𝗺𝗻𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently unveiled an ‘omnibus’ commitment on three key EU laws on corporate reporting (CSRD), corporate due diligence (CSDDD) and the EU Taxonomy. "The announcement presents more questions than answers and raises a perfect storm of legal uncertainty, confusion, and stress for businesses. If passed, it would mark one of the most significant missteps of von der Leyen’s tenure—and a betrayal of the very commitments on the Green Deal made in the past years." writes Mariana Ferreira (She/her), Sustainable Finance Policy Officer at WWF EU. 👇 Read the full op-ed below.

🚨 Five years - that's the time we have left to stop biodiversity loss. The signs are alarming and nature's message is clear: we must act fast and implement strong measures for nature to complement current climate action.🌱 WWF's brand new report "Catalysing Change: The Urgent Need for a Nature Transition Plan" is a call to action for businesses to integrate nature into their business models and truly reduce their impacts. The full report is available now: https://lnkd.in/e4m2kVST It contains: 🔹 recommendations on how businesses should approach these changes. 🔹 tools and external guides that can help the private sector place a stronger emphasis on nature.

👏 EU reaches deal on saving core of deforestation law Last night, EU Member States and the European Parliament reached a deal to delay the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by one year, while keeping the legal text of this critical law intact. “It is a relief that the fundamental elements of the most progressive EU law to fight deforestation remain unchanged. However, delaying its application by a year is already a step backward, allowing deforestation to continue unabated,” said Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, Manager, Forests at the WWF European Policy Office. “The deal is also significant in that it represents a major defeat of the EPP’s efforts to hollow out the EUDR - and thus its first attempt at weakening the European Green Deal by making common cause with the far right.” The trilogue deal also included a political statement committing the European Commission to finalise the country risk benchmarking six months before the application of the EUDR at the end of 2025, and provides the opportunity to simplify and reduce administrative burdens in the review foreseen in 2028. WWF calls on the European Commission to use the additional time until the end of 2025 to ensure clear, robust implementation and urges EU Member States to prepare for effective checks and controls without further delay. The deal will now need to be formally approved by EU Member States, as well as the European Parliament first in its Environment Committee this afternoon and then in its December plenary session. #EUDR #Together4Forests

Did you know that every breath we take comes, in part, from the ocean? 🌍 As vital to human life, health, food, and security as it is beautiful, Europe's seas are now at a tipping point. On December 1st, the European Commission began its mandate. Now is the time to act! Here's our science-based roadmap to restore marine life for the benefit of people ! Together, we can turn the tide. 🌊 #SaveOurOcean #SavePeopleandPlanet #RestoreOurSeas 🫂🦀 🐟 https://lnkd.in/ecsga-W5