POLITICO Pro Sustainability Snapshot

Good afternoon readers. Eline and Paola here with your daily digest of news. Reach out anytime to eschaart@politico.eu | ptamma@politico.eu | View in your browser

Thanks to Anca Gurzu, Kalina Oroschakoff and Eddy Wax

PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT COMMISSION: On the sidelines of Green Week, Eline and Kalina caught up with Director-General for Environment Daniel Calleja to talk about the next Commission's priorities on environment.

Speaking on Wednesday, Calleja said the EU is “not succeeding" in implementing environmental standards across the Continent. “Europe is losing every year €55 billion because of problems with implementation,” he said. Although both the shape of the next Parliament and the Commission are still unknown, environmental issues like air quality, biodiversity and nature, and the circular economy are top priorities. “Citizens are asking us to act, to be bolder,” Calleja said.

Air quality: There are six air pollution cases before the Court of Justice. “In some cities the levels of exceedance of air quality is beyond the rules and the Commission has to act. When countries don’t comply, the legal procedures are there.” Calleja said the Commission is analyzing the latest figures from Germany, Italy and France — all three of which face EU action. “If the situation has not improved, we will have to continue the procedure,” he said.

Biodiversity and nature: Next year's international biodiversity summit in China is adding urgency to the issue, Calleja said.

Circular economy: The outgoing Commission reviewed waste legislation, proposed the plastics strategy and launched the European environment review. The new Commission will have to continue acting in areas like the textile sector.

SPITZENKANDIDATEN: Wednesday night’s televised European presidential debate showed broad agreement with setting a 2050 target for the EU to become climate neutral. Manfred Weber, the European People’s Party candidate to be the next Commission president, stressed the EPP backs the mid-century goal — but the question is how. “I don’t accept that the losers of this will be the pensioners,” he said, adding that “we have a lot of concerns about whether [the car industry] can manage this transitional period.” Frans Timmermans, Socialist and Democrats candidate, together with ALDE’s Margrethe Vestager and the Green’s Ska Keller had broadly similar views: Europe needs to cut emissions and think of doing more. Vestager said climate change should be seen as an opportunity for transformation and job creation, pointing out that the technology needed for the energy transition is already here. Keller said it’s important to stop fossil fuel subsidies while Timmermans talked about taxing jet fuel.

A FASHION DISASTER: Falling prices and the rise of fast fashion have led to growing demand and a tendency to see clothing as disposable. That's rapidly driving up the sector's environmental footprint. According to Greenpeace's DeTox campaign, up to 3,500 chemical substances are used to turn raw materials into textiles, and approximately 10 percent of those are hazardous to human health or the environment. Clothing production and consumption produces about 6.7 percent of the global climate impact — more than aviation and shipping. Eline's story here.

DUTCH WATCHDOG ON PLASTICS REDUCTION: The Dutch Court of Auditors said on Wednesday that in addition to recycling plastic packaging, the Netherlands must also cut the production and use of other plastics. The country already recycles half of its plastics packaging, close to the 2022 target of 52 percent. However, the auditors said more has to be done to reach the government's goal of a fully circular economy by 2050.

Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen responded in a letter saying the government is working with “a wide range of parties” to develop the circular economy program. That includes a plastics pact recently signed by business and social organizations pledging to cut plastic consumption by 20 percent by 2025.

FRENCH CHEMICALS REPORT: A committee that informs the French parliament about scientific risks today presented a report on chemicals and pesticide regulation.

Glyphosate question: The study compares the findings of the European Food Safety Authority with those of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer: EFSA found in 2015 that glyphosate was “unlikely” to cause cancer in humans, but IARC’s assessment said the weed-killer was “probably” carcinogenic. The French report tries to explain to the public why the studies had such different findings, but does not offer its own conclusions.

GERMAN GREENS DEMAND TRANSPARENCY FROM BAYER: Seven German Green politicians penned an open letter to Bayer, calling on the chemicals giant to reveal if they feature in controversial lobbying documents. In France, leaked files reportedly drawn up by consultants for Monsanto (which was acquired by Bayer) compiled personal information on journalists and politicians, rating them on how sympathetic they were to the glyphosate. Eddy Wax and Emma Anderson have the full story here.

ALIGNING INVESTMENT WITH CLIMATE: The next Commission could avoid trillions of euros in economic losses from extreme weather events and climate change by regulating the financial sector, according to a report this week by the United Nations Global Platform for Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and climate think tank E3G. The trick would be to align investment needs with tackling climate change — for instance by linking national adaptation plans with strategies to attract investments, the report said.

Defining unsustainable investments: Alternatively, the Commission could list activities which contribute to climate change in the new European investment taxonomy — which defines investments according to their degree of sustainability. “Europe could create an official definition of resilient infrastructure and could take steps to embed these investments in its next budget,” the report said. However, an effort to introduce a so-called “brown list” of unsustainable investments was struck down in the European Parliament. Currently, an EU expert group is assessing economic sectors to determine which activities classify as environmentally sustainable for investment purposes; their report is due in June.

QUICK HITS

The European Commission this week kicked off a “targeted consultation” on the EU’s state aid guidelines for energy and environmental protection.

A report from the European Environment Agency maps contaminated maritime "problem" and "non-problem" areas.

Ana María Hernández Salgar has been appointed as the new head of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), according to a press statement.

Here’s a recap of today’s news, along with Pro articles and alerts from overnight.

Carbon market survey shows more companies feel sting of higher EU carbon prices

By Kalina Oroschakoff | 5/16/19, 2:33 PM CEST

The sci-fi solution that offers common ground on climate

Recent focus on carbon dioxide removal technologies such as 'direct air capture' allows lawmakers to sidestep controversial issues.

By Zack Colman | 5/16/19, 11:43 AM CEST

Pressure grows to make fashion more sustainable

The rag trade is racing to avoid being seen as an environmental villain.

By Eline Schaart | 5/16/19, 10:20 AM CEST

Bayer to lean on EPA review of glyphosate in US court battles

Bayer has been on the losing end of three high-profile verdicts

By Liz Crampton | 5/15/19, 11:04 PM CEST

German Greens demand to know who is in Monsanto lobbying files

By Eddy Wax, Emma Anderson | 5/15/19, 4:25 PM CEST