EU Environment and Climate

🇪🇸 Zaragoza is the #EUGreenCapital 2028! This beautiful Spanish city was recognised for its strong governance and long-term commitment to sustainability. Zaragoza is also tackling one of Europe’s most overlooked environmental challenges: noise pollution. 👂 Instead of waiting for noise problems to emerge and then trying to fix them, the city has developed a new way of planning: one where healthier, quieter neighbourhoods begin long before the first brick is laid. From quieter new homes and smarter building design to green buffers and targeted action in noisy areas, the city is designing for a healthier, quieter future. Discover how Zaragoza is designing a quieter future 👉 https://lnkd.in/egtK5PNH

€390 million for a greener Europe 💚 🇪🇺   We’re investing in 135 new projects through the LIFE Programme to protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and power up Europe’s clean energy transition. With another €189 million coming from project partners, the impact is set to go even further. The awarded projects will: 🏞️ Restore natural habitats and protect threatened species ♻️ Advance the circular economy, reduce pollution and improve quality of life 🌍 Get Europe ready for a changing climate ⚡ Speed up the clean energy transition Discover the projects and learn more about the #LIFEProgramme 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTkwtqGh

Humans depend on healthy and resilient ecosystems. That is why on 29 September, we launched extra funding for nature, innovation and competitiveness! The €500 million allocated to #HorizonEU until the end of 2027 will fund two new cross-cutting calls for project proposals focusing on: 🌱 protecting biodiversity 🇪🇺 strengthening EU competitiveness 🔎 bringing research results to market Discover these new funding opportunities and how to apply 👉 https://lnkd.in/egTtxiCK

Belgium is better preparing for growing pressures on water ecosystems. This year’s extreme heatwaves accompanied by high numbers of heat-related deaths, crop failures and unprecedented wildfires, highlighted the urgency of stronger action on water resilience in Belgium. Today, in Leuven, 🇪🇺 Commissioner Jessika Roswall and 🇧🇪 authorities signed a joint statement on strengthening water resilience in Belgium, committing to: 💧 achieving good water status across the country 🔄 restoring and protecting the water cycle 🧪 tackling chemical pollution including PFAS 🌾 supporting more sustainable agriculture 📈 building a water-smart economy 🚰 ensuring clean and affordable water services for all 🤝 improving governance and cross-border cooperation Belgium is the second country to conclude a structured dialogue process, which will gradually involve all EU Member States, to help achieve Europe’s water resilience objectives by 2050. Learn more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eQGGJCSQ #WaterWiseEU

Europe’s clean industrial transition is gearing up! ⚙️🏗️ The Commission has selected 77 cutting-edge projects to receive funding under the #IF25NZT Net-Zero Technologies Call. Together, they are expected to receive grants totaling around €3.4 billion sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System. This support will strengthen Europe’s industrial leadership and competitiveness and help transition polluting industries to cleaner ones. These projects span different sizes and are located in 23 European countries. They are decarbonising sectors like: ➡️ Energy intensive industries – steel, cement, chemicals and advanced decarbonized fuels ➡️ Manufacturing – producing clean-tech components such as heat pumps, electrolysers and electric vehicle batteries, and critical raw materials ➡️ Renewable energy – harnessing wind, solar, and ocean energy to generate power ➡️ Mobility – reducing fossil fuel use in aviation, road, and maritime transport Ten years into their operations, they can cut around 290 million tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is roughly equivalent to cutting a tonne of CO2 every second for a decade. Read more about the selected projects here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eaJJhQZF Check out the slides below to get a better overview of which topic, sector and location the projects are in ⬇️

📣 Have your say on the future of the EU Covenant of Mayors! For over 15 years, the Covenant has brought together local authorities committed to climate and energy action. This strategic review looks at how the initiative has supported municipalities since 2015 and how it can continue to meet their needs in today’s evolving policy landscape. 🏙️ Are you a municipality – whether or not you are currently a Covenant signatory – or a stakeholder familiar with the initiative? We want to hear from you. The survey covers: ➡️ The value and relevance of its services and support ➡️ Challenges and opportunities for municipal engagement ➡️ Municipalities’ needs for climate and energy planning and implementation ➡️ Ideas for improving the initiative's effectiveness ⏱️ The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete. 📅 Deadline: 20 October, 00:00 👉 Link: https://lnkd.in/eswkDzpx

Dear friends, colleagues, 60,000 citizens marching for the climate in Brussels last Sunday and demanding ambitious climate policy was a fitting backdrop for this busy week. Meeting in Brussels over these last two days, EU Leaders also made clear that climate policy is part of the answer to the geopolitical challenges we face, even without using the word climate: “Recalling the overarching imperative of reducing the EU’s dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, the European Council stresses that the energy transition remains the most effective strategy for achieving Europe’s strategic autonomy, strengthening resilience, structurally lowering energy prices, and delivering the clean, abundant and homegrown energy needed to power the economy of the future.” Carbon pricing is central to making this transition happen. The European Council stressed the need to ensure a well-functioning, transparent and predictable carbon market that supports industrial competitiveness, limits carbon leakage and carbon price volatility, and mitigates the impact on electricity prices, while maintaining the ETS’s role in driving investment and innovation in the climate and energy transition. It also called for the Commission to update its assessment of the impacts of ETS2. We will follow up diligently, as we know that ETS2 coupled with the Social Climate Fund can give a strong contribution to decarbonisation and market uptake of EU-made clean tech while leaving no one behind. Our ETS review proposal was discussed at Monday’s Environment Council in Luxembourg. Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra noted that “there is significant support for the overall architecture, for the overall logic of reciprocity of the system and for making sure we turn the ETS into an investment engine.” Environment ministers also approved the EU’s negotiating position for COP31. The EU will prioritise implementation of the Paris Agreement, notably through electrification, and call for swift, science-based action to bring us back onto a 1.5°C trajectory. The EU Pavilion at COP31 will also be hosted jointly with the Council Presidency. Commissioner Hoekstra held two policy dialogues on Thursday. The first, on forest-based value chains, focused on the investments needed to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness and resilience, with upcoming policy proposals to enable a thriving bioeconomy. The second, on CBAM implementation, brought international industry representatives together. CBAM is a central plank of our domestic and international climate action and business across the world are getting ready for it. At the 2026 Covenant of Mayors ceremony, Places Made for People, was launched to help local and regional leaders tackle energy and transport poverty and promote climate resilience. The coming weeks will be no less intense. On Tuesday, we host the first stakeholder meeting for designing the ETS Investment Booster. Enjoy the weekend, Kurt

The call for contributions to the European Carbon Farming Summit 2027 is now open. What have you learned about making carbon farming work in practice? What research, experience or policy insights could help others move forward? Share them in Kraków, Poland, on 16–18 March 2027. The EU project Credible invites farmers and land managers, researchers, advisers, businesses, public authorities and others working on carbon farming to help shape the programme. You can propose: ✅ An oral presentation, poster or poster with a pitch ✅ A complete session with a panel or a series of presentations ✅ A workshop or training session We welcome contributions that connect credible, science-based implementation with practical value for farmers and land managers, while addressing climate mitigation, biodiversity and resilience. Sessions should make space for discussion and concrete outcomes. Submit your proposal by Thursday 5 November 2026. Read the guidance and submit your contribution 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehXW9Z4p

🍕 Pineapple is optional. Healthy soil isn’t. Love it or hate it, every pizza has one thing in common: all its ingredients start with soil. 🪱 And earthworms are nature's tiny underground heroes that help keep that soil healthy. 🌱 Around 95% of the food we eat in the EU ultimately comes from soil. But between 60% and 70% of EU soils are considered unhealthy. Erosion. Compaction. Pollution. Loss of organic matter. Salinisation. 💶 Soil degradation costs the EU over €50 billion a year. Farming with nature can help turn things around by rebuilding soil health, boosting biodiversity and helping soils hold water and store carbon. In practice, that means: ✅ Returning organic matter to the soil through compost or crop residues. ✅ Planting hedgerows and field margins to support biodiversity. ✅ Reducing tillage to limit soil disturbance and erosion. ✅ Rotating crops to support soil health and break pest cycles. ✅ Planting cover crops to protect soil between harvests. Healthy soil won’t stop climate change, but it helps farmers adapt to it and keep food on our tables when conditions get harder. This #WorldFoodDay, let’s protect what feeds us.

💶 Europe’s climate resilience needs long-term local investment.    This was one of the key messages from this afternoon’s Mayors Dialogue at the EU Covenant of Mayors Ceremony in Brussels. Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra met with mayors from Portugal, Romania and Germany to discuss how Europe can strengthen its climate resilience. As the EU prepares its new climate resilience framework, negotiates its next long-term budget and redesigns its climate governance, cities are calling for the resources and long-term certainty they need to adapt to a changing climate. On the frontline of floods, heatwaves and droughts, local authorities play a vital role in protecting communities and preparing for future climate impacts.    Here’s what we heard 👇   💬 “This year was the hottest year on record, but the coolest year for the next 10 years. We need to prepare our schools, help people cool their houses and address the housing problem in Europe. All these things require strong political dialogue between Europe and local authorities through initiatives like the Covenant of Mayors.” - Luísa Salgueiro, Mayor of Matosinhos, Portugal.  💬 “To face these challenges, we need to invest at the local level. Otherwise, things will only get worse.” Martin Horn, Mayor of Freiburg, Germany.   The EU recognises that cities are essential partners in delivering Europe’s climate ambitions.   📣 “This past year showed that every place is vulnerable, that everywhere, we can have atypical weather, droughts, wildfires... It’s important that we address this not in an isolated way but work together across continent and across political parties.” - Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth   One thing is clear: strengthening Europe’s climate resilience means giving cities the means to prepare for growing climate risks and protect the people and places that make up our communities.    #CoMCeremony2026