Sustainability Briefing — 15 August 2026
EU policymakers set a firmer course for 2040 climate ambition today, while parallel developments in green-software governance and the EU's circular economy point to how targets translate into everyday practice — from carbon-tracking tools for tech teams to the steady rise of rental and product-as-a-service businesses across Europe.
EU institutions provisionally agree a binding 90% emissions-reduction target for 2040
The Council presidency and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to amend the European Climate Law with a 2040 target of a 90% net greenhouse gas reduction versus 1990 levels. The deal includes flexibilities for member states, including a role for high-quality international carbon credits and domestic permanent carbon removals under the EU ETS.
Green Software Foundation ratifies SOFT framework to embed sustainable practices across organisations
The GSF ratified its Sustainable Organizational Framework for Technology (SOFT), previously known as TOSS, aimed at helping organisations turn green-software tools into company-wide practice. It provides decision trees, capability assessments, templates, checklists and maturity matrices for roles ranging from CTOs to developers to sustainability leads.
Amadeus transfers open-source 'Carmen' carbon measurement engine to the GSF
The Green Software Foundation took ownership of Carmen, a carbon measurement engine developed and proven by Amadeus, with the transfer completed on 31 January 2026. Built on the Impact Framework, it tracks energy use and emissions from virtual machines, storage and cloud services and monitors applications running in Kubernetes clusters.
EEA: scaling circular business models and fair jobs are key to a circular economy
In two briefings ahead of the Commission's expected Circular Economy Act, the EEA found that widespread scaling of circular business models in Europe is not yet evident and identified enablers to move them from niche to mainstream. It noted circular-economy jobs in the EU-27 grew by 10% to around 4.4 million between 2014 and 2023, while flagging that some roles are low-paid or insecure.
Product-as-a-Service and rental models expand as circular business grows
The EEA's briefing on scaling circular business models reports that the number of EU companies renting and leasing personal and household goods rose 13% between 2021 and 2023, to over 46,000 active businesses. Turnover in the segment grew 26% to reach EUR 21 billion in 2023, though such models tend to succeed more readily in business-to-business markets.