From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
Press Release from Symphony Environmental:
EU Commission NGO manipulation highlights decade-long corruption in plastic policy, says Symphony Environmental
With NGO financing from the EC coming to light, plastic policy needs greater transparency to remove corruption and confusion from legislation.
Recent reports from the “Brussels Morning” newspaper said that the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf had uncovered findings that are now shaking the entire European Union. They discovered that the European Commission had been financing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) lobbying for the policies of former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans and influencing politicians to push through his “Green Deal.” It has now come to light that the EU commission gave €1 billion of public funds to green NGOs and lobbyists to promote the policies of the EU Commission.
The Report says, “We demand transparency from green NGOs. The European Commission must not use taxpayers’ money to fund studies from affiliated NGOs that conveniently produce results tailored to the Commission’s agenda. That is simply wrong. Studies must be professional and independent. European funds should never be used to serve a political faction or ideology, nor to manipulate MEPs or the public.”
Commenting on these revelations, Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony Environmental, said, “Political manipulation of this kind undermines the credibility of NGOs who have been campaigning against plastic. We have never been able to understand until now how the EU could impose a ban on what they called ‘oxo-degradable plastic’ without any impact assessment or socio-economic analysis and without a dossier from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) showing any justification for any such ban. We have legal advice that the ban does not apply to “oxo-biodegradable” plastic, which is a different technology, but people have been confused into thinking that it does.”
“Political manipulation also explains the behaviour of the EU court when we sought to deal with that confusion. What other court in the world would dismiss our expert evidence because we paid for it (perhaps they think that Intertek and the other international test-houses are happy to work for nothing) whilst at the same time accepting the evidence of Eunomia for which the Commission had paid. Further, what other court in the world would accept that legislators must act on the best evidence available and then excuse the Commission’s premature termination of a scientific investigation of biodegradable plastic technology by the European Chemicals Agency.”
“As a result of this political manipulation, thousands of tonnes of plastic packaging escape into the European environment and its coastal waters every month, where it will lie or float around for decades. It will continue to do so until this legislation is clarified – or unless the EU bans plastic altogether, which would be a very foolish thing to do. Symphony has been trying for more than ten years to explain to the EU that the way to reduce pollution is not to ban plastic, which is the best material for the job, but to improve waste management and make the plastic biodegradable, as a fail-safe mechanism so that it will quickly biodegrade if it does get into the open environment.”
The Brussels newspaper Report continues, “Many of these lobbying contracts were classified, making them inaccessible, and it was only during an audit conducted by the Court of Auditors that some of them came to light. Others were exposed thanks to whistleblowers—insiders within these NGOs who decided to speak out. Every year, €2.6 billion was spent on questionable studies designed to justify the necessity of the Green Deal.”
“It is not surprising that this scandal is linked to the name of Frans Timmermans, who frequently promised impact assessments but either failed to deliver them or eventually produced studies based on data supplied by NGOs. These reports lacked solid data, thorough analyses, and credible sources.”
Laurier concludes: “One could clearly sense the strong ideological agenda that the architect of the Green Deal was pushing within the Commission—despite repeated objections. His influence was simply too great. He sought to push through his green policies at all costs, with no regard for their impact on the European economy and living standards. Shockingly, one-third of NGOs currently do not disclose who funds them, or who establishes them.”
Brussels Morning cover the story, which they call the EU’s biggest scandal in 20 years. They write:
“A few days ago, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf uncovered findings that are now shaking the entire European Union. The European Commission has long been financially supporting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) lobbying for the green policies of former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans. Lobbyists, funded from the EU budget, were tasked with influencing politicians to push through the Green Deal. This is evidenced by secret contracts obtained by the Dutch newspaper.”
https://brusselsmorning.com/the-european-commission-faces-its-biggest-scandal-in-20-years/65937
Story tip. The Guardian at it again! All I can say is it certainly wasn’t in my back yard!
Two-thirds of the Earth’s surface experienced record heat in 2024. See where and by how much – visualised | Climate crisis | The Guardian
Explained simply by land heating up faster than the ocean, but let’s not allow facts to destroy a good scare.
Don’t knock it, the Guardian goes to 11.
the Guardian goes to 11.
Yeah… you can really hear the sustain on that….
Sustained bowlocks, that is…
But it is all just cow-bells !! 😉
The end product being cow s**t !
Hottest year ever and (CO2) emissions hit 41.6 billion tonnes … I don’t anyone cares 🙂
In CO2 over 350 ppm no-one can hear you scream 🙂
The Guardian is screaming…
Let me see if I understand this report.
If CO2 is the cause of this climate heating (it isn’t), and CO2 is well mixed and uniformly distributed throughout the atmosphere (it isn’t, per NASA), and satellites can accurately measure the surface temperature (they can’t), and clouds are uniform and do not reflect sunlight back toward the sun (they aren’t and the do), then how is it the hotspots change as shown in the graphic?
We will not even get into spherical geometry and a ton of other physical properties of the planet.
410ppm +/- 2 or 3 ppm, is pretty well mixed.
Not really. Big difference between urban settings and farmland.
NASA reports eddies and swirls, which is not well mixed.
Mauna Loa is a single point.
The Guardian has really outdone its usual cherry-picking and then some:
So, at some point, even if only for a few minutes, 2/3rds of the globe saw a temperature that broke a high temperature record for that day. Doesn’t tell us anything regarding what happened during the other 364 days last year.
I wonder is we applied the same standard, what percentage of the earth’s surface also so record low temperatures last year?
A little off subject, but neither the Grauiniad nor the Beeb had any mention of the fact that the Norwegian government nearly collapsed recently. The problem was that, during the wind droughts, the UK and Germany were sucking so much energy out of Norwegian interconnects that it was pushing up.the price of energy in Norway (not sure why selling more energy should up the price but apparently it did). So much so that the Norwegians want to stop the interconnects. Now I wonder why the Grauniad/Beeb would want to keep silent
When it comes to the European Union you will struggle to find any mention of what people might actually want, it’s all about what the unelected EU elites believe is good for the Proles. This is a completely anti-democratic organisation – complete with its own rubber stamp; Europarl.
Kweir Starmer is doing his level best to get the UK back into the EU fold without risking a plebiscite. An agreement here, a deal there etc. Which fits in very well with the Brussels way of doing things.
“The Climate Change Committee has unveiled its latest carbon budget as part of the government’s drive toward Net Zero. Unsurprisingly, it comes with a hefty price tag. The quango estimates that “the net costs of Net Zero will be around 0.2% of GDP a year on average” until 2050—amounting to roughly £5 billion annually over the next 25 years. That’s the same figure as Starmer’s planned defence spending increase…
The CCC’s recommendations include:
Half of UK homes fitted with heat pumps by 2040.
Four in five cars to be electric by 2040.
A new tax on flying—jacking up the price of a return ticket from London to Alicante by £150.
Britons to cut back on meat consumption—about two doner kebabs’ worth per week.
A 25% reduction in livestock numbers by 2040 compared to 2023 levels.
Governments have historically followed the CCC’s five-year carbon budgets as required under the Climate Change Act. Translation: higher bills and extra costs for households, and the economy. Meanwhile, Starmer faces scrutiny over whether his defence spending sums actually add up. The IFS has pointed out that cutting foreign aid by 0.2% would cover less than half of what he needs. If Starmer is serious about hitting 3% of GDP on defence in the next Parliament, he should start by slashing Net Zero pledges next…
https://order-order.com/2025/02/26/net-zero-to-cost-same-amount-as-starmers-defence-uplift/
Guns or windmills? You can’t have both. And what about food security?
These UK Net Zero politicians are crazy!
I don’t know what their motivation is, but they are doing Great Harm to the UK with their Net Zero policies. Policies that will never see fruition. And even if every one of their crazy plans went the way they wanted them to go, it would make NO difference as to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 will continue to climb even if the UK eliminated ALL CO2 production.
The UK is a tiny fish in a Great Big Ocean. What they do with regard to CO2 is meaningless and counterproductive for UK citizens.
“I don’t know what their motivation is, but they are doing Great Harm to the UK with their Net Zero policies.”
The second part of your sentence answered the first part. Just extend that out to Western Civlization.
Unfortunately the Greens and supporters know they can’t win by democratic means so they find a back door in to the lever of power . This has been going on for years the rich pay lobbyist to brings their whims into legislation , and the poor just have to accept it , your poor now but your just be a bit more poorer now . So much money is wasted on whims and special interest groups with the majority getting no real say.
Decades. Algore is worth a reported $11B from cap and trade dealings amongst other activities.
Strat you missed the killer part courtesy of the Grauniad headline
“How to reach net zero? Cut down on kebabs for a start”
“The quango estimates that “the net costs of Net Zero will be around 0.2% of GDP a year on average” until 2050”
0.2%!?!? How is that tiny figure even possible to utter without one’s tongue cutting a whole in the cheek?
NetStupid will ding EVERYTHING with a carbon tax or require use of uneconomic energy sources.
Finland’s Commissioner and vice Chairman of the Commission Jyrki Katainen played a pivotal role along with Klaus Schwab in implementing the Great Reset in the European Union. He presented to the Commission the Circular Economy communication in December 2016, which laid foundations to all Green Transition laws passed by the Council and the European Parliament. Here you can read this ugly story. https://www.oikeamedia.com/o1-219300
“Story tip”
Finland’s Commissioner and vice Chairman of the Commission Jyrki Katainen played a pivotal role along with Klaus Schwab in implementing the Great Reset in the European Union. He presented to the Commission the Circular Economy communication in December 2016, which laid foundations to all Green Transition laws passed by the Council and the European Parliament. Here you can read this ugly story. https://www.oikeamedia.com/o1-219300
Diabolical. But then it is the EU and so to be expected.
When my first international report was published on the subject matter June 28th 2018, I was labeled as far right conspiracy theorist in Finland. If I remember correctly WUWT made news of it. Thx!
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/save-the-oceans-stop-recycling-plastic
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2019/05/Paunio-Baselagreement.pdf
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/09/05/the_circular_economy_a_return_to_soviet-style_five-year_plans_851567.html
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2023/06/Paunio-Microplastics.pdf
Whatever is right is right. Whatever is wrong is whatever is left.
Seems to apply.
I think Elon Musk is going to uncover a lot of shenanigans going on with NGO’s and U.S. taxpayer money. It’s time to expose the leftwing billionaires and their NGO’s. They are undermining our Republic. There are reports that Soros is funding all these “protests” against Trump that are popping up. We need a lot more detalis on the money, and who the money is going to, and what the money is being used for.
And it looks like the EU could use the same kind of investigation. I bet Musk would volunteer if you just ask him nicely. After he is finished investigating U.S. finances, of course. I think Musk has identified about $65 billion is wasted tax dollars, so far. 🙂
One of the revelations to emerge from the DOGE investigation is that the Open Society and other NGO’s are actually funded by the US taxpayer via USAID, and not from Soros’ own pocket.
“Is going to”? Already has!
Using your own money for lobbying? How lower class!
Every good lobbyist knows you have to get your favourite politician to give you money so you can lobby for that politician’s wants and needs.
It is NOT a scandal. Get it into your head: it is the aim to get to Net Zero so those on the ticket promote it any way they can. The same with ‘democracy’. A spokesman for the UK ‘aid’ agency was recently asked by the BBC about the US funding for their programs. He of course said it was a great thing. For him ‘democracy’ means supporting any group who is fighting for it, whatever that may entail. Same w the UK Net Zero programs.
We might call it Propaganda but they will call it ‘ the righteous and moral path’. Propaganda only comes from the enemy, remember?!
just like the EPA and USAID … funding NGO’s to push the lefts agenda …
Maybe, just maybe we are moving from the end of the beginning to the beginning of the end.
Perhaps.
Are the discoveries really “shaking the entire European Union.” ? Or is this just another EU Teapot Tempest?
The EPA in the US does exactly the same thing. As does the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) which regulates “endangered species”.
In the US, officials from these agencies are in a revolving door relationship with NGO advocacy groups that provide purpose created “research” to the federal agency in support of their own agendas. NGO leadership moves to important positions in the agencies, and then when the political winds change, move back to the NGOs.
The liberal/progressive press thinks this is all a good thing.
Kip, thanks for editing this interesting piece and, certainly thanks to Mikko who seems to be the first commenter who addresses the content of the post.
The fact that he obviously knows what he is discussing is helpful!
There are a myriad of other comments on this thread which, however much I agree with, are unconvincing that the commenters really read, let alone commented on the subject. That’s a pity.
I agree that this is scarcely the biggest EU scandal, more just typical of EU behaviour.
But the attack on plastic is real, actually happening and dangerous.
WUWT should encourage commenters to avoid Off Topic postings!
There is an attempt to negotiate global plastic treaty similar to that of the Paris Treaty. The last round of talks took place before Christmas. The Fifth Meeting of the Negotiating Committee (INC5) was organized in Busan, South Korea from November 25 to December 1, 2024. No consensus was reached on the agreement and the INC5 meeting ended without a result. The INC5 session was filed open and is scheduled to meet again in the first half of 2025 (the so-called INC 5.2. meeting). The date and place of the meeting will be announced later.
In Busan, reaching a consensus did not fall on any single issue. The most strongly differing views are especially regarding the inclusion of plastic production in the agreement. Oil producing countries vehemently opposed any limits to plastic production.
Scandal? Sounds like business as usual.
This should be a big deal. If I were a betting man, I put my money on nope. Let’s see if it gets any media coverage.
Bear in mind that this story broke in the Netherlands, now with a rather different government than previously, with Geert Wilders and PVV the largest party. Also, it hits against Timmermans, who is the leader of the opposition and a former EU commissioner. Those facts will ensure it continues to have traction there, and it will act as a point for others to hang off in criticism of the EU, such as the AfD and RN in France.
The UK Climate Change Committee lives in its own private La La Land. It is saying gas boilers will have to go, people will have to use public transport and walk or cycle more frequently and homes need to be better insulated. Their crystal ball tells them that the key to hastening the transition to ‘clean power’ is to make electricity cheaper than gas and this can be done by a sixfold increase in the number of offshore wind farms and a doubling of onshore turbines.
Currently over 22m of the 28m homes in the UK are on the gas network and gas is 4 times cheaper than electricity. Yet the CCC think somehow people are going to be able to save £700 on their “heating and fuel bills” although they do not put a date on when this miracle will happen.
Most of the issues we face today would simply disappear if we prohibited government from funding grants and so on. Government transparency is critical any government agency or agent withholding government documents should be fired immediately and banned from working for or with the government. The only thing worse than crappy government is crappy government with lots of money.
How about arresting, prosecuting, convicting, fining, and incarcerating criminal polluters who release plastic and other trash into the environment? Maybe force these criminals to pick up litter as part of their punishment? I’ll offer Singapore as a rare Asian country which has NO litter. It is successful in its anti pollution enforcement. Other Asian nations are responsible for over 95% of plastic releases into the environment.
Green recycling and anti-incineration obsessions are in the heart of the problem along side with improper waste management in the developing countries.
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/save-the-oceans-stop-recycling-plastic
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2019/05/Paunio-Baselagreement.pdf
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/09/05/the_circular_economy_a_return_to_soviet-style_five-year_plans_851567.html
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2023/06/Paunio-Microplastics.pdf