Action is being taken to increase transparency on the processing of users’ personal data on the internet, but the main digital advertisers still rely on intrusive practices that try to influence people’s behaviours. European regulation on data protection could mitigate the issue, but its enforcement is limited
Tailing ponds are among the largest and most dangerous structures engineered by humanity, but their operation is virtually unknown to those who don’t live in their vicinity. Europe is no less at risk from incidents than the rest of the world.
Digital IDs and health passports are being talked up as the only way to return to normal amid COVID-19 but open the door to an unprecedented central surveillance system and an end to personal autonomy through coercion. And while they are being pitched as optional, those who opt out face exclusion from the most fundamental freedoms.
The EU Emission Trading System, the EU’s main mechanism to disincentivise CO2 emissions, seems not to have had the desired results. Major industrial groups, often with the support of their own governments, profit from systemic weaknesses while continuing to produce energy using fossil fuels.
The clash between the EU and AstraZeneca over delayed vaccines has revealed a stack of questionable contracts signed with Big Pharma. Problems include manufacturers’ ambiguous delivery dates, but lawyers investigating the deals show that companies have a clear advantage over the EU.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a cruel reminder that ecosystem vitality and human health are closely linked. For Eloi Laurent, "the best economic policy is a good health policy and the best health policy is a good environmental policy. We see that there is no trade-off between economy and environment."
Ornaldo Gjergji, data analyst at OBC Transeuropa, presents the investigation on rising temperatures in Europe that he carried out in the framework of the European Data Journalism Network (climatechange.europeandatajournalism.eu). Making use of data from Copernicus and ECMWF, Ornaldo built a dataset that shows the variation in average temperature between the 1960s and the 2010s for about 100,000 municipalities across Europe. In the video, he explains how he approached the subject and why it is important to connect the global with the local perspective when looking at climate change.
To meet its climate targets, the EU must double the speed it is renovating its residential and office buildings. Sweden has already almost completely decarbonised its sector. But it is on its own.
As public institutions struggle to implement their plans effectively, private banks are still not pulling their weight. With the slowness and mounting obstacles facing public finances, combined with the unreliability of the private system, how secure is the future of energy transition?
The natural resources used to produce energy directly impact CO2 emission levels and the long-term environmental sustainability of the energy sector. National differences within the EU are large, and suggest the very different approaches being taken.
