Climate justice means social justice
Global and swift action is needed at COP27!
Climate justice means social justice
Global and swift action is needed at COP27!
Man repairing broken smartphone, close up photo.
Every day we buy products that are designed to break. It has become increasingly difficult and expensive to repair our electronic gadgets and replace key parts like a cracked screen or a weak battery.
While it is hard to assess whether companies are purposely shortening the lifespans of electronics, the proportion of defective devices being replaced by consumers grew from 3.5% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2012.
We’re depleting the world of finite resources and increasing the threat of climate change to buy things that are meant to become waste. Things we could repair or upgrade instead.
The good news is that we have an opportunity to rethink the way our products are designed and to reclaim our right to repair. As part of a European campaign for the Right to Repair, the EEB demands easy access to repair information, spare parts and repair tools. We want a better product design that makes repair possible at a reasonable price.
The EU can be a leader on this front, having already pioneered some ground-breaking laws forcing manufacturers to make certain products more easily repairable and durable.
