Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety

For a cleaner and safer planet

The Socialists and Democrats have a vision for a fairer and more sustainable Europe, a society that puts the people's well-being first and thinks of the environmental legacy for future generations. We can achieve this through greater protection of our natural environment and its’ resources, a circular economy and by tackling climate change. This transition towards a cleaner and sustainable Union goes hand in hand with modernising European industries, moving towards a sustainable-growth model and creating new jobs which respect planetary boundaries and safeguard it for future generations.

Our work on the environment, climate and food safety

Our MEPs promote our progressive vision in this committee in a wide range of policy areas including climate change mitigation and adaptation, air, water and soil quality the protection of biodiversity, chemicals impacting environmental and human health, waste and resource management, food safety among other areas of importance to us all.

European climate law

Our Group has long recognised the urgency of the climate crisis. We pushed for ambitious climate targets and EU leadership at the Paris COP21 in 2015 to achieve the first legally binding global climate deal. This was a historic first step to try and limit global average temperature rises to 1.5°C, but tougher action was needed to make it a reality.

In June 2021, our efforts paid off and the European Climate Law was adopted, committing Europe to a climate-neutral economy by 2050. Shortly after, the Commission launched the Fit for 55 package, to focus the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and tax policies on reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. We are very proud of these achievements, and our work to include measures like the new Social Climate Fund to ensure policies are applied in a socially just way, but we will continue the fight for a better future for our planet.

Nature Restoration Law

We led the Parliament’s work on the Nature Restoration Law. We built a coalition to pass this law for the restoration of our ecosystems, in the face of boycotting and strong opposition from the conservative groups and part of the liberals, who wrongly pitted farmers against the Green Deal.

Sustainability of products and our planet

We played a crucial role in promoting the sustainability of products by leading the revision of the Ecodesign regulation that will set sustainability requirements for various products. The regulation allows for the establishment of a wide range of requirements, including on product durability reusability, upgradability, and reparability, addressing presence of substances of concern, energy and resource efficiency, recycling carbon and environmental footprints, and information disclosure. The proposal also includes obligations for economic operators to disclose information on the destruction of unsold goods, with the Commission having the authority to set bans on such destruction for certain products. There will already be a direct ban on the destruction of unsold textile products. This aligns with our previous work on the EU Textile strategy.

Stronger framework for sustainable waste management

We were the driving force in the European Parliament pushing for strengthened provisions in the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive. The revised Directive establishes new targets for the reduction of food waste both the the processing and manufacturing sectors as well as in retail, restaurants and households. It also establishes detailed requirements for extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles, with separate collection systems incentivising reuse and more efficient recyclability. Finally, Member States are also given the possibility to set EPR fees in a way to disincentivise fast fashion practices that lead to an overconsumption of textiles and an over-generation of waste.

Safe and high-quality food

Every European citizen deserves safe, high-quality food with clear information about its origin, production and content. The S&D Group has successfully strengthened consumer rights and transparency in the food sector. We secured better labelling rules, ensuring clear origin traceability for honey, accurate sugar content information in fruit juices and stricter controls on harmful sweeteners. These measures empower consumers to make healthier and more informed choices.

On new genomic techniques (NGTs) and GMOs, we successfully fought in the European Parliament for mandatory labelling and traceability, ensuring freedom of choice for consumers and protection of the organic sector fully in line with the One Health approach for human, animal and planetary health. We also opposed several GMO authorisations.

Improving air quality for a healthier environment

We paved the way to the Zero Pollution Ambition for air by 2050, which fits with our efforts to be climate-neutral. Leading the revision of air quality laws, we made sure Europe aligns with the latest WHO guidelines by 2035. We also added rights for people affected by bad air quality to seek compensation. Also, we improved how air is monitored for better and more accurate information. We strengthened the rules for countries to follow so they can meet air quality standards by 2030 and 2035.

Global action to tackle the climate crisis

There is no time to lose. World leaders must use COP30 to speed up action to reduce emissions and help those already facing the worst effects of a changing climate.

Europe can lead the way by adopting swiftly an ambitious 2040 climate target of 90% GHG reduction followed by ambitious revisions of the sectorial legislation. AS the EU remains at the forefront of climate action we should also assist our trading partners in decarbonising their production. Together we can work to avoid further global heating and leave a less polluted world for our children - and at the same time build a stronger, greener economy with sustainable new jobs. Find out more about our campaign for a European Green Deal.

Increased water resilience

Water is essential to human life, to the health of our ecosystems and to European economies, yet it is under increasing stress due to overexploitation, rising demand and the effects of climate change. The impacts are increasingly felt in our societies and economies. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the main legal framework for water protection in Europe, aiming to ensure an integrated approach to water management, while respecting the integrity of whole ecosystems, is not a sufficient instrument to address the many problems of water stress. S&D calls for a new framework to protect critical water supplies and their catchments in water-stressed areas, provide adequate finance for protecting and restoring natural ecosystems and ensure clean and sufficient water for drinking and sustainable farming. Furthermore, water-intensive growth sectors like hydrogen and chips production as well as existing intensive users in agriculture will have to meet higher efficiency targets. The Water Resilience Framework should set as its target the eradication of water poverty.

A circular economy

Every year, around 600 million tonnes of waste are thrown away in Europe, which could be reused and put back into the economy. The S&Ds are calling for ambitious EU targets and goals, and for new tools to help each country move towards a more sustainable, resource-efficient, circular economy.

A circular development model means that the value of products and resources is kept in the economy for as long as possible and the generation of waste is minimized. To achieve this transition, the S&D Group is pushing through ambitious policies to change the way we use, re-use, recycle and recover our resources. We are also leading the fight to put an end to plastic litter.

Safer food for all

We, the S&Ds, continue to fight for stronger consumer protection, greater sustainability, transparency and better-informed choices about what we eat. Our goal is to ensure coherent food labelling that empowers consumers to make healthier and more sustainable choices without unnecessary complexity. This includes harmonised front-of-pack nutrition labelling, clear sustainability information such as CO₂ footprint and the implementation of an EU-wide animal welfare labelling (AWL) scheme.

At a broader level, we call for a progressive legislative framework for sustainable food systems (FSFS) that ensures a paradigm shift towards sustainability, health and social responsibility. This must promote sustainable agriculture, reduce food waste, improve animal welfare, and encourage healthier diets, with reporting duties placed primarily on processors, distributors, and retailers rather than farmers.

Chemical safety and pesticide reduction

We advocate for chemical safety and reduction and are working towards minimising or removing exposure to harmful chemicals, including industrial chemicals (PFAS, Bisphenols, etc.), agricultural pesticides, and endocrine disruptors – chemical substances affecting human hormones which can be those present in every-day products. We are aware that combining different chemicals can be harmful, with consequences that are not fully known, and so we are committed to addressing the impact of these potentially harmful mixtures.

We are committed to reducing pesticides and sustainable agriculture. We advocate for reducing chemical pesticides, with a focus on the more hazardous types. Our goal is to speed up the transition to different models of agriculture that protect our water, soil, and air resources, stop biodiversity loss, combat pest resistance and protect human health.

Ensuring Social Justice in the Green / Clean transition

We want to leave no one behind in this transition, putting the focus on workers and the creation of quality jobs in areas impacted by increased climate ambition. We aim to address energy poverty, by supporting vulnerable households through building renovation programmes. We need to support vulnerable transport users in the transition to zero-carbon mobility. We also need to support farmers, who are the hardest hit by the impact of climate change, and to help them in the transition to more sustainable, climate-friendly agricultural practices while also maintaining their stable income.