05/10/2021 (Agence Europe) – The European Union should set a target to reduce its material footprint by 65%, say the NGOs Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) in a report published on Tuesday 5 October. These NGOs are concerned about the future increase in mining projects. According to the report, batteries (mainly for electric vehicles) are expected to increase the EU’s demand for lithium by almost 6000% by 2050. The two NGOs regret that the European plans within the framework of the Green Deal “are continuing on the path of consumption as usual” and continue to follow a mindset of seeking economic growth. Using the example of batteries, they argue that the answer “is not simply to replace cars running on fossil fuels with electric cars, it is to also reduce private car use overall”. See the report: https://bit.ly/3mI4JqH (DG)