Countries

European elections: a crucial issue for Emmaus

Between 6^th and 9^th June 2024, European Union citizens will elect the MEPs who will represent them at the European Parliament for the next five years.  These elections will largely determine what Europe will look like over the coming years.

Emmaus is taking action

With a view to raising awareness of the issues that affect our work and values in the run up to the European elections, Emmaus Europe has taken action on a number of fronts to raise awareness about these elections and their importance for Emmaus.

• Our groups are opening their doors to election candidates who wish to find out more about what we do. We are inviting them to visit our premises, learn more about our work and become aware of the challenges we face.
• Emmaus Europe has drafted two position papers, setting out our recommendations for action for the next 5-year term, and has also produced a leaflet to get as many people involved as possible.

General proposals – short version Detailed proposals – long version

Europe – a vital decision-making level for Emmaus’ work

European Union (EU) policies play a decisive role in the daily lives of each and every one of us, influencing matters such as our currency, movement between countries and agriculture.
For Emmaus, almost all areas of our work are affected by European laws.

The EU, Emmaus and the Social and Solidarity Circular Economy

European policies play a vital role in the day-to-day work of Emmaus groups, particularly in terms of our collecting, sorting, re-use and recycling activities. European Union directives on waste management regulate collection and sorting and have an impact on the re-use percentage to be applied in each country, which in turn influences our practices. For example, a separate collection of textiles will become obligatory in all EU countries by 2025. Emmaus Europe is calling for re-use and Social and Solidarity Economy stakeholders to feature prominently in these policies.

The EU, Emmaus and combating poverty and its causes

Although the EU cannot intervene directly in the social policies of Member States, it has recently strengthened its legislative framework to promote social rights. The aim is to encourage greater convergence of national policies and mobilise financial resources for this purpose. For example, the EU adopted the European Pillar of Social Rights, along with an ambitious action plan, particularly with regard to combating homelessness and ensuring a minimum wage. Emmaus Europe is active within the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) and is campaigning to ensure that everyone has access to social protection and a minimum income representing at least 60% of the average standard of living in each Member State. The EU can also take action in other areas related to the causes of poverty, such as access to energy, health care, decent housing and digital technology. For example, the European Green Pact supports policies to renovate buildings to make them more energy efficient, and we are working to ensure that the poorest people benefit first.

The EU, Emmaus and welcoming migrants and refugees

One of the European Union’s major responsibilities concerns migration policies. The EU directly influences border management, and the way migrants and refugees are received, treated and integrated into European societies. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the EU has steered its policies towards tightening the closure of its borders and refusing to accept migrants. This disastrous policy approach is dramatically affecting the lives of people on the move who arrive in Europe. Emmaus firmly opposes this approach and defends freedom of movement and our vision of unconditional welcome.

The far right: a threat to Emmaus’ activities in Europe

We are very concerned about the rise of far-right parties, which pose a serious threat to organisations such as Emmaus, particularly in terms of our unconditional welcome policy, as well as our work to combat poverty. It is crucial to stand firm against the influence of parties dominated by racism and xenophobia that pit poor people against each other.
Are you a member of Emmaus Europe? Please also check out the webpage dedicated to the European elections on the home page of our member’s area.

Are you a member of Emmaus Europe? Please also check out the webpage dedicated to the European elections on the home page of our member’s area.

Improving our ecological impact: Emmaus Åland’s experience

Emmaus Åland has developed a diagnosis to measure and improve its ecological impact. Martha Hannus, sustainable development coordinator, shares this project with us.

Can you tell us what this ecological diagnosis involves?

The ecological impact assessment is inspired by the principles of GRI, Global Reporting Index, that is an established standard for reporting carbon emissions. We have analysed the sources of emission that we have, identified ways to measure them and developed a plan for emission reduction. Included in the assessment are emissions from electricity and heat, our transports locally and abroad and travels. We have included a follow up in our yearly reporting every year.

When and why did you start working on this project?

We took on this project because we believe that even though our activities such as second hand and gardening are ways to contribute to a more sustainable society, to be credible we must also report on the impact we have on the world around us while we carry out those activities. That is, to us, a way to act in solidarity with other parts of the world and future generations. If we demand change in the world, we have to be critical also to our own operations and choices of economic activities. We decided that it is more environmentally efficient and cost effective to try to sell more goods locally and send more solidarity in the form of economic support to other groups to develop their activities.

We started in 2018 by a materiality analysis followed by a strategy adopted by the board. From 2019 we have developed and refined our ways of measuring our emissions. The goal we have is to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

What results have you achieved?

We have been able to diminish our emissions substantially in particular through changing to green electricity and oversee our transports. We also know what to do in order to continue our progress – we need to travel carbon neutral. For 2024, we are setting up a specific budget for travels that does not include money but climate impact, that we commit to follow.

For some years, we have also measured the amount of goods that we receive and followed up on the waste we produce. We do this by weighing the donated goods on selected weeks and calculating the numbers for the whole year. For the waste, we receive numbers from the waste company, where all the waste is weighed.

In 2022 we received approximately 450 000 kg of donated goods. We were able to sell 62 % of this locally, and 21 % was sent as containers to other Emmaus groups. 8 % was recycled by the waste management company and 9 % was burned for energy production. Only a small amount consisted of inert waste. We can reuse most of the bags, furniture, and home textiles, while electronics, books and media are the categories with the highest amount of waste. In our containers, 53 % of the goods are clothes. For electronics, only 50 % can be reused because we don’t have specific qualifications to repair them. We don’t have a solution for now, but perhaps in the future it could be possible. These numbers help us communicating with customers and donors and are also useful in lobbying activities.

What would you say to groups thinking about undertaking this process?

By measuring, you will know more about your activities, and there are always low-hanging fruits – actions that could easily be taken to improve your impact. Don’t be afraid of this, it is not as difficult as it sounds! We must act as provocateurs of change, and that includes being at the forefront of shouldering our responsibility for our emissions, and be transparent, as we would like others to be.