Parliament improves its environmental performance

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

Parliament strengthens its commitment to sustainability by adopting ambitious environmental targets for the years to come.

On Monday, the Parliament’s Bureau, the body that takes decisions on matters concerning the institution’s internal organisation, approved a significant increase in efforts to further reduce the Parliament’s ecological footprint. It updated its environmental policy and set new environmental targets for the 2024-2029 term.

Building on a strong record of environmental measures, the European Parliament commits to further boost its sustainable development operationally. The new targets to achieve by 2029 include:

• A carbon footprint reduction of at least 55 % tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per Full-Time Equivalent (tCO2e/FTE) compared to 2006.
• A 55% decrease in energy consumption (kWh/m²) compared to 2012.
• Raising the share of energy consumption from renewable sources to 80 %.
• A 85% reduction in paper consumption compared to 2012.
• The European Parliament also included a qualitative biodiversity indicator. It tracks the size of the green outside spaces and what is happening on them, e.g. recycling of green waste and the promotion of local plants

Targets also address waste management, water conservation, recycling, sustainable procurement and initiatives to further integrate biodiversity considerations into the European Parliament’s operations.

Vice-President Nicolae Ștefănuță, responsible for the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), commenting on the Bureau decision, said: “The new environmental targets equip the European Parliament well to improve its environmental performance further in the next five years. Mainstreaming sustainability into Parliament’ activities is now key for all the planned projects, ranging from building renovation to further digitalisation to advancing more green transport options for its members and staff that need to commute or travel. This way, we aim to set a strong example in sustainability for all houses of democracy around the world”.

Throughout the ninth legislative term, the European Parliament’s environmental performance proved to be very solid. Greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 47% between 2006 and 2023 (in tonnes per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)). Energy consumption was lowered by 53% compared to 2012 (in kWh per m²) and water consumption was going down by 44% (m3 per FTE). The solar panel installations expanded. Energy efficiency was improved and the generation of renewable energy increased. Parliament also reduced the amount of food waste (unsold and leftovers food) in kg per meal served by 59% compared to 2016 and non-recycled waste (kg per FTE) was reduced by 43%. The digitalisation of processes was accelerated, paper consumption was by reduced by 61% compared to the average for the 2010-2014 period and initiatives to reduce the digital carbon footprint were undertaken.

Background

The European Parliament signed its first environmental policy pledge in 2004 and uses the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) as environmental management tool. It became the first parliament in the EU to obtain EMAS registration in 2007. The European Parliament’s environmental policy is based on the principle of preventing emissions and limiting them where they are unavoidable. EMAS registered organisations are verified once a year by an external auditor. The EMAS registration confirms that the institution is in legal compliance with all environmental laws.

Nine out of the eleven environmental indicator targets set in 2019 for 2024 have been met and were even exceeded, before their respective deadlines. The EMAS certification was extended to the Liaison Offices in Valletta and Vienna. The Liaison Offices in Budapest, Nicosia, The Hague, Copenhagen and Sofia are in the process to obtain the EMAS certification. The Parliament launched socially responsible public procurement guidelines and certifies two major events, the European Youth event (2021 and 2023) and Europe Day (2020 and 2022) as sustainable events under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20121 standard.