Virgin forests in Central-Eastern Europe are the last remaining ones on the continent, yet they are being mercilessly torn down. Part of this multi-billion euro industry is a mafia-like system that stretches all the way from Romania to Ukraine. Austrian timber companies are right at the heart of it.

Key climate hazards are already affecting Europe and will increasingly do so, a series of maps published by the European Environment Agency reveals. Impacts, calculated through different scenarios and models, can only be reduced by keeping the global temperature increase well below 2°Cs.

Many people claim they are flying less to protect the environment, but figures from 2018 say otherwise. The aviation industry is doing better than ever and its emissions have more than doubled since 1990. 

The European Union wants to abandon coal by 2050, but this will require significant help from European banks, which still finance 26 per cent of all coal power plants in the world.

As the European Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen focuses on the combination of environmental and economic measures, one may wonder to what an extent will social issues enter the picture – and whether the European Pillar of Social Rights is still a priority.

As the EU wants to get ambitious on climate change, it will have to act fast and decisevely on coal – which is the source of 28 per cent of CO2 emissions. About 600 coal-fired power plants are still in operation in the EU, especially in Germany and Poland.

Europeans may see themselves as climate champions, but they just keep flying more and more. The number of passengers has risen by 20 per cent in the last 5 years, and carbon emissions have exploded. It is not just a matter of offsetting them – they must be cut. 

There are almost 2000 species of bees in Europe, and at least 9% of them are threatened. What can be done by the EU institutions?

In Europe, 4.2 per cent of the surface is artificialized by humans. The EU's objective is to halt all new artificialization of land by 2050, but the deadline seems a long way off.