Science & Policymaking

Nickel energizing batteries
While nickel is not always in the name, its presence in many battery technologies is helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - enabling clean energy solutions to be a central part of our effort to tackle global warming.

Waste no water – The essential role of nickel
Water is a fundamental human need. By 2025, the World Bank has estimated that water demand will exceed supply by 40% as the world’s growing population requires more water.

Nickel recycling
Recycling nickel is an important factor in nickel life-cycle and an important contributor to global sustainability.

How much money goes into Europe’s universities?
Almost a decade has passed since the financial crisis broke out, but universities across Europe are still feeling the pinch.

5 differences in corporates & federations communication
In April 2016, EURACTIV circulated a survey among EU affairs experts working in corporations and federations in Brussels, trying to examine the different roles these entities play in “the Bubble”, the synergies between them, but also what sets them apart in their approach to raise awareness of various policy aspects.

INFOGRAPHIC: The COP21 decisions at a glance
On 12 December, world governments concluded a historic international agreement to fight global warming at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.

EU law ‘woefully inadequate’ for GM insects, Lords say
Est. 3minBritain should challenge "woefully inadequate" European regulations and launch field trials of genetically modified insects designed to wipe out disease-carrying bugs that harm crops and people, lawmakers said on Thursday (16 December).

Scientists, space agencies race to be the first ‘climate cop’
Est. 5minScientists from the United States, Japan, and China are racing to perfect satellite technology that could one day measure greenhouse gas emissions from space, potentially transforming the winner into the world's first climate cop.

New Circular Economy Package to create fewer jobs than axed bill it replaced
Est. 5minEXCLUSIVE / The European Commission's new Circular Economy Package will create 110,000 fewer jobs in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and Italy than the axed bill it has replaced, according to research obtained by EURACTIV.

Bill Gates announces the ‘Breakthrough Energy Coalition’
Est. 3minAs COP21 opened in Paris today (30 November), Bill Gates announced the “Breakthrough energy coalition” uniting the efforts of two dozens of other billionaire philanthropists such as Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos to sponsor energy that doesn’t produce carbon.

MEPs block Commission proposal to recycle hormone disrupting plastics
Est. 2minThe European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the Commission's plans to allow the recycling of PVC plastics containing DEHP, a hormone disruptor banned in the EU since February 2015. Our partner Journal de l'Environnement reports.

New Circular Economy Package ‘less ambitious’ than axed predecessor
Est. 6minThe European Commission’s draft waste and incineration laws to replace the package it axed under its drive for “better regulation”, has weaker targets for recycling and landfill than its predecessor.

INFOGRAPHIC: Demography is a vehicle for development
The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016, Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change, was published on 6 November. It revealed that demographic trends had changed dramatically over the last 30 years.

MEPs go on warpath over energy efficiency days before COP21
Est. 5minEXCLUSIVE/ MEPs have stepped up pressure on the European Commission over its decision to effectively cap any increase to the EU’s 2030 energy efficiency targets, just days before the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) begins.

Food industry wants common science principles to boost trust
Est. 4minThe EU's food and drinks industry has developed a set of principles for research conduct that will apply to the sector.

Commission ‘pre-emptive strike’ puts cap on EU energy efficiency targets
Est. 4minEXCLUSIVE / The European Commission’s decision to effectively cap any increase to the EU’s energy efficiency targets was branded a “pre-emptive strike” today (18 November) against the European Parliament, which would curb any effort by MEPs to boost the 2030 goals.

EU scientists advise higher safety limits on glyphosate weedkiller
Est. 4minGlyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which proposed higher limits on Thursday (12 November) on the amount of residue of the weedkiller deemed safe for humans to consume.

Storm and drought: what Europe has to fear from climate change
Est. 12minFor most Europeans, the climate change threat is elsewhere: the rising sea levels in south Asia; crop failures in Africa; mightier storms in the tropics, drought in the developing world.

EU lawmakers reject national bans on GM food, feed imports
Est. 4minLegislators on Wednesday (28 October) rejected by a huge majority a hard-won compromise that would have allowed member states to decide for themselves whether or not to import Genetically Modified Organisms for use in food and animal feed.

Experts disagree about ‘probably carcinogenic’ processed meat
Est. 4minThe WHO now considers the consumption of processed and red meat to be as dangerous as smoking or drinking alcohol. EURACTIV's partner Tagesspiegel reports.

Europe entering the era of ‘precision agriculture’
Est. 5minSPECIAL REPORT / The agricultural sector has stepped into the digital era, in an effort to respond to rising global nutrition needs and tackle the environmental crisis.

New plant breeding techniques: Innovation breakthrough or GMOs in disguise?
Est. 8minSPECIAL REPORT / 'New plant breeding techniques' focus on developing new seed traits within a given species through genetic engineering. A troubling question for policymakers is whether these techniques should fall under GMO legislation.

Commission: Organic farming ‘not enough’ to address food security
Est. 8minSPECIAL REPORT / Organic farming has a role to play in the new Common Agricultural Policy, but it cannot address the perplexing issue of food security, an EU spokesperson said.

‘Circular economy’ must be regulation-light and market-driven, says EPP
Est. 4minEXCLUSIVE / Centre right EU leaders will demand the European Commission ensures its new 'circular economy' package of waste, recycling and incineration laws is based on a light regulatory touch and is driven by market forces.