Latest news with #Euronews'
Euronews
25 minutes ago
- Business
- Euronews
WATCH: Will China and EU agree on anything at Beijing summit?
Chinese President Xi Jinping said today's summit offers a chance to "properly handle frictions and differences, and open up a brighter future for China-EU relations." But Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa are carrying a bag full of challenges into the negotiation chamber in Beijing. Friction points range from cyberattacks against state agencies to human rights violations, with Beijing's "no-limits" partnership with Moscow and the trade imbalances caused by industrial overcapacity standing out. Euronews' Europe Today will crunch through tricky topics as presenter Mared Gwyn navigates you through the issues with correspondents, and takes the pulse of EU-China relations in an exclusive interview with former Commission President José Manuel Barroso. Watch Europe Today here on Euronews at 8am.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Big Question: Do companies need to re-evaluate how they set climate goals?
By now, we're all used to seeing corporate sustainability pledges, promising things like carbon neutrality or net zero by 2050. However, can we truly trust that these pledges are credible and mean what we believe they do? 'We have a big issue in the broad environmental and sustainability space, where organisations are really trying to have their cake and eat it too,' Chris Hocknell, director at Eight Versa, said. 'They want to have these ambitious grand strategies to meet net zero or even carbon neutral. But they, in many respects, don't actually have the solutions within their control or they don't have the plans to get there.' And whilst an unrealistic roadmap is a problem, Chris thinks the entire way we look at sustainability is bad for business. 'I want to change how we evaluate carbon performance. It's kind of anti-innovation, it's anti-growth.' In this episode of The Big Question, Euronews' Business editor Angela Barnes is joined by sustainability consultant Chris Hocknell, to discuss where companies are going wrong with their climate targets. 'An honesty deficit' 'One of the problems is that it's not properly audited and verified, so we have companies that will use it incorrectly and say things that are technically untrue, but they can't actually be verified unless you have the data to dig into, so there's a lack of policing effectively,' Chris explained. He also suggested that both Apple and BP have been criticised for being unclear with their terminology. BP in particular, he noted, has set itself a target of achieving 'net zero operations' by 2050. However, this only applies to their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. 'It really means that they exclude the use of their product, the oil and gas itself, which is technically not correct. 'If your product is liquid carbon effectively, then oil is ultimately used to be combusted and turned into other products or even as a fuel. So your main product is not a net zero product,' Chris told The Big Question. In case you're unfamiliar with the scope system, here's a basic explainer. Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned and controlled by the organisation. Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased energy. Scope 3: Indirect emissions in the value chain. E.g From suppliers or from product use. Whilst Chris criticised BP's use of terminology, he acknowledged that oil and gas 'are the lifeblood of the whole economy and industrialised society' and suggested that focusing on making their direct emissions more efficient and being clearer with that messaging is the best foot forward. Related Concrete just got a makeover and could slash the cost of housing in Europe Banks backtracked on climate pledges last year, handing €750bn to fossil fuel firms Should we be suspicious of all climate pledges? Chris' outlook wasn't all doom and gloom. He highlighted how climate messaging does match the actions of many companies. 'Orsted is one where they've transitioned into obviously making green tech and are very large. They've got a very self-evident business model which is pivoting towards the technology of the future, in theory,' Chris explained. 'There are other companies like Patagonia [which] is a classic case study, they've internalised this sustainable and pro-environment philosophy into their business model but they're tailoring their message, their product to a slither of the market and I think the problem is that the companies that can actually reinvent or target their products to that kind of very pro-green element of the market is a minority.' For some industries, striving for 'net zero' or 'climate neutral' just isn't possible. 'We call them kind of hard to abate industries. You know, there's steel, glass, any of the big, heavy industry. There's not an option for them. 'They've got to keep doing what they're doing and we depend on it. So they don't have any easy options. And I think that's the big elephant in the room, these hard to abate industries. 'How do we transition them? Because there isn't the technology at hand. And that's another kind of myth is that we think we have these technologies just at our fingertips and we actually don't.' Related 'That would be a huge mistake', fashion alliance fears 'watering down' of environmental legislation Is there a better way for companies to approach their climate goals? Instead of setting unrealistic goals that the business leaders of the future will not be able to achieve, Chris suggested companies begin discussing their climate goals in terms of efficiency. 'Probably all the people on the board at this point in time, won't be on the board in 2040, 2045, 2050. So we have this real challenge where it's much easier to keep pretending you're on track.' Each year, they should aim to achieve more whilst reducing their current impact - doing more with less. He believes regulation could help with that too. 'I think we need an efficiency philosophy rather than a rationing and a budgetary perspective on things. 'We need to innovate and grow our way out of this problem and that current runs through almost all of our regulation and I think we need a more entrepreneurial and innovation-minded approach to all of our policy making rather than bureaucratic boxing in and limits and hurdles.' The Big Question is a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today's agenda. Watch the video above to see the full discussion with Chris Hocknell. 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Euronews
3 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Apple, BP and Orsted: Can we trust corporate sustainability pledges?
By now, we're all used to seeing corporate sustainability pledges, promising things like carbon neutrality or net zero by 2050. However, can we truly trust that these pledges are credible and mean what we believe they do? 'We have a big issue in the broad environmental and sustainability space, where organisations are really trying to have their cake and eat it too,' Chris Hocknell, director at Eight Versa, said. 'They want to have these ambitious grand strategies to meet net zero or even carbon neutral. But they, in many respects, don't actually have the solutions within their control or they don't have the plans to get there.' And whilst an unrealistic roadmap is a problem, Chris thinks the entire way we look at sustainability is bad for business. 'I want to change how we evaluate carbon performance. It's kind of anti-innovation, it's anti-growth.' In this episode of The Big Question, Euronews' Business editor Angela Barnes is joined by sustainability consultant Chris Hocknell, to discuss where companies are going wrong with their climate targets. 'An honesty deficit' 'One of the problems is that it's not properly audited and verified, so we have companies that will use it incorrectly and say things that are technically untrue, but they can't actually be verified unless you have the data to dig into, so there's a lack of policing effectively,' Chris explained. He also suggested that both Apple and BP have been criticised for being unclear with their terminology. BP in particular, he noted, has set itself a target of achieving 'net zero operations' by 2050. However, this only applies to their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. 'It really means that they exclude the use of their product, the oil and gas itself, which is technically not correct. 'If your product is liquid carbon effectively, then oil is ultimately used to be combusted and turned into other products or even as a fuel. So your main product is not a net zero product,' Chris told The Big Question. In case you're unfamiliar with the scope system, here's a basic explainer. Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned and controlled by the organisation. Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased energy. Scope 3: Indirect emissions in the value chain. E.g From suppliers or from product use. Whilst Chris criticised BP's use of terminology, he acknowledged that oil and gas 'are the lifeblood of the whole economy and industrialised society' and suggested that focusing on making their direct emissions more efficient and being clearer with that messaging is the best foot forward. Should we be suspicious of all climate pledges? Chris' outlook wasn't all doom and gloom. He highlighted how climate messaging does match the actions of many companies. 'Orsted is one where they've transitioned into obviously making green tech and are very large. They've got a very self-evident business model which is pivoting towards the technology of the future, in theory,' Chris explained. 'There are other companies like Patagonia [which] is a classic case study, they've internalised this sustainable and pro-environment philosophy into their business model but they're tailoring their message, their product to a slither of the market and I think the problem is that the companies that can actually reinvent or target their products to that kind of very pro-green element of the market is a minority.' For some industries, striving for 'net zero' or 'climate neutral' just isn't possible. 'We call them kind of hard to abate industries. You know, there's steel, glass, any of the big, heavy industry. There's not an option for them. 'They've got to keep doing what they're doing and we depend on it. So they don't have any easy options. And I think that's the big elephant in the room, these hard to abate industries. 'How do we transition them? Because there isn't the technology at hand. And that's another kind of myth is that we think we have these technologies just at our fingertips and we actually don't.' Is there a better way for companies to approach their climate goals? Instead of setting unrealistic goals that the business leaders of the future will not be able to achieve, Chris suggested companies begin discussing their climate goals in terms of efficiency. 'Probably all the people on the board at this point in time, won't be on the board in 2040, 2045, 2050. So we have this real challenge where it's much easier to keep pretending you're on track.' Each year, they should aim to achieve more whilst reducing their current impact - doing more with less. He believes regulation could help with that too. 'I think we need an efficiency philosophy rather than a rationing and a budgetary perspective on things. 'We need to innovate and grow our way out of this problem and that current runs through almost all of our regulation and I think we need a more entrepreneurial and innovation-minded approach to all of our policy making rather than bureaucratic boxing in and limits and hurdles.' The Big Question is a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today's agenda. Watch the video above to see the full discussion with Chris Hocknell.
Euronews
02-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU Commissioner calls for more of long-term budget for space projects
The EU's next long-term budget (2028–34), currently set at €1.2 trillion, should dedicate more funding to space projects to reduce reliance on the US and bolster the bloc's strategic autonomy, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius told Euronews' EU Decoded program. 'We know the needs, and the needs are much bigger than what we have now in this Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2021–27),' Kubilius said, adding that simply maintaining existing systems will require investing more than the current €17 billion allocated to space. The former Lithuanian Prime Minister argued that Europe remains 'quite heavily reliant' on key strategic services from the US, and that the continent urgently needs to develop more of its own space intelligence data systems. The EU is currently developing the IRIS² project, an €11 billion initiative aiming to create a secure, multi-orbital satellite network for EU governments and businesses — but new projects are also expected to be launched under the funding of the next MFF. 'We're building our own capacities, and that will cost, so that money should be included in the next MFF,' Kubilius said. 'If we do not allocate enough funding and fail to start developing these projects, by 2035 we may find ourselves in a very unattractive situation,' the Commissioner warned. In recent years, Europe has lost its leading position in the commercial launcher market (Ariane 4–5) and geostationary satellites — even forcing the EU to temporarily rely on US SpaceX rockets to launch its own satellites. According to Mario Draghi's report on competitiveness, the EU has also fallen behind in space activities and suffered major supply chain disruptions. As a result, the industry has become less profitable, with lower sales and increased dependence on components such as semiconductors and detectors. Earlier this year, Kubilius laid out the EU's roadmap to remain a space power: continue developing flagship programs, launch an EU space industrial strategy to foster innovation and competitiveness, ensure autonomous access to space, strengthen ties between defence and space, and boost investment. The Commissioner has already delivered the EU Space Act, aimed at creating a true single market for space activities and data. But whether he succeeds in securing more space funding in the next MFF to fulfill the rest of his agenda remains to be seen. On 16 July, the European Commission is expected to present the first package of its post-2027 long-term budget, when the battle for funds between old and recent EU priorities will begin.
Euronews
27-06-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Delay to 2040 climate goals ‘a mistake' Ribera answers Macron
It would be a mistake for the European Commission to follow French President Emmanuel Macron's advice and slam the brakes on its proposals for 2040 climate targets, the Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera told Euronews' Europe Today show on Friday morning. Ribera, responsible for the EU's green transition portfolio, is slated to present the 2040 targets after next Wednesday's meeting of the college of commissioners. The French President raised his opposition to the EU executive tabling the proposal next week in an unusual intervention at leaders' level during the EU Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. After the summit he told reporters that the EU should take more time to come to an agreement on the new targets because "we want to make this climate ambition compatible with European competitiveness". "I believe in the possibility of a Europe that reconciles an ambitious climate agenda with respect for the commitments of the Paris Agreement and that preserves its competitiveness. All that requires is technological neutrality, the ability to invest and consistency in trade policy,' Macron said. Targets are essential economic and social welfare, says Ribera "The 2040 targets can't be a technical debate that takes just a few weeks. It has to be a democratic debate at 27 [member states]. And I say this because I love Europe. And I say it because, in two years' time, I'll no longer be in charge of my country. But I would be unwise to leave my successor a situation that had been debated outside the framework of the 27," he added. 'I think it could be a mistake,' Ribera told Europe Today, asked by presenter Meabh McMahon whether she was prepared to accede to Macron and delay the proposal. 'This year is the tenth anniversary of the Paris agreement, and we want to identify how we can keep on going in something we that we think is quite essential for the economic and social welfare of the Europeans and worldwide,' Ribera said. 'We have already identified that we want to be a fully carbonised economy by 2050, we have targets for 2030, we need some clear orientation around 2040, and the reduction of 90% is a clear goal,' the Spanish commissioner said, adding: 'Then how we can combine the different pieces, the eventual flexibilities is the thing to be discussed, but we are working hard and we will table our proposal in the coming days.' The EU is committed to net-zero by 2050, after bringing its carbon emissions to 55% below 1990 levels by the end of this decade. The missing element is the 2040 target, which the EU executive was originally supposed to table last year, but which has been subject to delay.
