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The European Commission is currently finalising a proposal – to be published by the end of 2019 – for a so-called „Green taxonomy“. Once developed, the taxonomy will be used by national and EU regulators to shape the requirements regarding financial products traded as “green”. Actors of financial markets will use the taxonomy to disclose how the environmental sustainability of investment was defined. To qualify as green, investments will need to contribute substantively to at least one of the six EU environmental objectives and will need to fulfill a catalogue of requirements.

October 15th is Global Handwashing Day: This year’s theme is “Clean Hands for All.” It follows the push to leave no one behind in the Sustainable Development Agenda. Inequalities in handwashing facilities and effective handwashing promotion programs can put individuals at higher risk for diseases that impact their health, education, and economic outcomes (https://globalhandwashing.org).

On 10 September, Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen has introduced her new team of commissioners. She tryed to balance out experience, poltical backgrounds, age, gender and last but not least, each member state needs a commissioner – size doesn`t matter. The org chart already indicates what becomes important: The New Green Deal will be addressed by Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans (Netherlands). Margrethe Vestager (Denmark) will also represent an important portfolio: Making Europe Fit for Digital Age.

By conducting the preparatory study with regard to electric hand drying within the eco design framework, there were two stakeholder consultation meetings scheduled by ICF. The purpose of the meetings is to share draft reports and analysis and to collect feedback from stakeholders directly. Please register for the meeting on the 20th of November: