Search Results for: Environmental health

Paint and coatings manufacturers and traders within the European Union (EU) are facing changes to the key EU regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals (the CLP regulation). The European Parliament, and the EU Council of Ministers have struck a deal on updating the existing 2008 law, aimed at increasing protection of human health and the environment, while easing access to up-to-date information on chemicals hazards and simplified labelling rules.…

Vietnam’s businesses in export-focused garments and footwear manufacturing are facing up to the challenge of becoming greener. This realisation comes even as the country benefits from free trade agreements (FTA), such as the 2019 European Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the 2020 UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).…

Türkiye is a critical food and drink provider to the European Union (EU) and the UK, with trade set to grow as Türkiye ramps up production and adopts agri-tech and smart farming solutions. Renewed trade agreements under discussion with the EU (with whom Turkey is already in a customs union) (1) and a new projected trade agreement with the UK are also set to spur growth.…

In most urbanised industrialised economies, the current focus on renewable energy growth is on wind and solar. Lacking untapped river resources, major hydro-electric projects are rare. However, in larger and more rural countries, especially those still industrialising, large-scale hydro is still an option.…

The European Union (EU) has been busy chiselling the regulatory edifice of its much-vaunted European Capital Markets Union (CMU), but this growing legal framework has yet to deliver the deep capital pools that its framers envisaged.

Indeed, speaking at the European Banking Congress, in Frankfurt, on November 17, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde, bemoaned the lack of available EU capital (1):

“Today, European start-ups attract less than half the funding of their US counterparts, while the volume of investments in scale-ups in the United States is more than four times greater than in Europe,” she stressed.…

With consumers becoming increasingly health conscious worldwide, demand for vegan chocolate, replacing dairy ingredients with plant-based materials, is growing fast.

According to US-based Grand View Research, the global vegan confectionery market – dominated by chocolate – is anticipated to generate USD2.62 billion in annual revenues by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% from 2023’s USD1.23 billion.…

The Indonesian garment sector, already reeling from a decline in international orders, is facing a double whammy: a surge in illegal textile imports that is undercutting local producers and increasing pressure for sustainable production.

According to the Indonesian Fibre and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFi – Asosiasi Produsen Serat dan Benang Filament Indonesia), the value of illegal textile and textile products, notably clothing imports into Indonesia last year (2022) reached USD2.94 billion.

More than 400 organisations from 64 jurisdictions have signed a declaration, committing themselves to advancing the adoption or use of the ISSB’s S2 climate impact reporting standard as the climate global baseline. This came on December 4, during the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP28) meeting in Dubai.…

There is no formal blueprint telling universities and colleges how they can encourage skills and practices promoting sustainability, as the world grapples with an ever more demanding impacts from climate change. However, a team of experts in the UK has developed a thoughtful set of guidance, designed to aid higher education institutions in weaving sustainability into their coursework, research and operations.…

The New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has called for comments on planned reductions to allowable lead levels in paints, and in art materials such as chalk, crayons, and felt-tip pens.

The country’s current lead level limit for paint is 0.1% (1,000 parts per million/ppm) and the proposed changes would reduce this to 0.009% (90ppm), in line with countries including Australia, Canada and the United States, the EPA said in a note.…