A group of campaigners from the coolproducts for a cool planet coalition - accompanied by MEP Judith Merkies and..... a group of penguins, quite appropriately given the bitterly cold weather - have called today on the European Commission to end delays to a crucial energy efficiency policy. In particular, they are worried about the slowness of discussions on ecodesign standards for key energy-using products, which is costing European consumers up to €120 million a day.
The penguins set up a "supermarket" of old fashioned and inefficient boilers in front of the Commission's Berlaymont building (boilers are one of the key products for which minimum energy efficiency requirements are being discussed, and the product with the highest energy saving potential). Look at the slide show below...
According to the report “Energy savings in practice” - also published today by the campaign group - huge energy savings can be made in household appliances, particularly in heating equipment, which could lead to savings of up to €44 billion a year for European consumers. To achieve these savings, ambitious ecodesign regulations must be adopted urgently.
The coolproducts campaign partners are therefore calling on EU decision-makers to stop caving in to industry and energy supplier pressures for weak and slow measures and to strengthen the current proposals so that Europe can meet its 2020 environmental and energy saving targets.
Read more on the EEB website.
Read the report here, or download a summary.