The European Commission addressed the food security issues caused by severe mineral fertiliser shortages.

The Commission’s communication, released on 9 November, lists potential means to overcome short term challenges posed by the supply line disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as deals with long term issues regarding the sustainability of fertilisers, and the resilience of the food chain. On these matters, the recent set of actions overlap with the Farm to Fork strategy. Amongst the proposed actions, practices for fertiliser use optimisation and usage reduction, as well as financial support actions targeted at vulnerable areas can be found. An important part of the optimisation process is the focus on sustainable farming, sustainable fertiliser production (such as using biomethane or green hydrogen for ammonia production instead of relying on nitrogen) and on substituting mineral fertilisers with organic ones.

The European Chemical Society (EuChemS) continues to investigate sustainable fertilising processes and food production from scientific and policy perspectives, as numerous materials that concern food production are classified as rare ones. In April, EuChemS held a workshop on the element of nitrogen, and on potential means of sustainable ammonia production and use, ranging from precision agriculture using drones to using anammox bacteria to nitrogen removal from wastewater. In 2023, another agriculture related workshop is scheduled to be held, focusing on the element of Phosphorus. In the Commission’s paper, it is highlighted that the European fertiliser industry is dependent on phosphate imports – therefore its crucial for the long-term resilience of the Union.

The main topic of the Tripartite Social Summit, held on 19 October, was  “Tackling the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis: How to protect the economy, businesses and workers”. Leaders of the European Union met with social partners to discuss the unprecedented rise in energy prices following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has adverse effects on welfare and economy.

The European Commission aims respond to the crisis with the robust REPowerEU Plan, the goal of which is to transform the European energy system by relying on renewables, efficiency improvement, and other innovative technologies, such as large scale digitalisation. In addition, the Commission recently proposed an emergency regulation in order to secure gas supply by joint purchasing, solidarity and allocation mechanisms between member states. In addition, by March 2023, the commission intends to establish a price benchmark, and until that time proposes limits on and correction mechanisms of gas prices.

However, the crisis also concerns scientific infrastructures. Numerous research facilities require a high amount of energy in order to properly function – therefore their operational costs increased by a proportionally much higher margin than of regular user’s. These facilities are often forced to operate with a reduced capacity or even consider temporary shutdowns – one of them being CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, which had to reduce its operational capacity by 20%. The unpredictability of the often-irregular energy needs for research poses further challenges, which makes providing support difficult.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is being held  in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, between 6-18 November.

The Environment Council of the European Commission secured a negotiating mandate for the conference, as well as for the COP15 Biodiversity Conference to be held in December. The EU pushes to increase actions to mitigate the interconnected climate and biodiversity crises and deliver on the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The EU stated its readiness to further increase its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), in line with the outcome of the ongoing ‘Fit for 55′ negotiations. In addition, the Union adoptied a Mitigation Work Programme, as well as initiatives aimed at ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, phasing down coal and reducing methane emissions.

The European Parliament is also being represented at the event – 14 members of the Committees ENVI and ITRE are present in Sharm El Sheikh. MEP Bas Eickhout leads the parliament’s delegation, which is there to collaborate with parliamentarians of non-EU countries as well as representatives of international organisations.

The EU’s focus at the COP15 on biodiversity will be emphasizing the target of protecting 30% of land and 30% of oceans by 2030, focusing on areas that are valuable for biodiversity and ecosystem services. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pledged to double external funding for biodiversity, in particular for the most vulnerable countries around the world – for which an adequate resource mobilization is needed.

The European Chemical Society is committed to sustainable chemistry, and supports the Union’s ambitions via providing scientific advice related to sustainability on a number of policy initiatives, alongside its own events and initiatives on sustainability, such as the “Chemists’ contributions to the global approach for tackling pollution” panel at the ECC8. In addition, EuChemS has professional networks designated to work on ensuring the sustainability of chemical sciences.