Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – September 2020

Europe’s renewed climate commitment under scrutiny Dear friends, The European Commission has proposed to strengthen Europe’s 2030 climate target to at least 55%. While a very positive development, the new target nevertheless falls short of what science says is needed for the EU to do its share to keep global warming at safe levels. Critically, …

What role for national energy and climate plans in the COVID-19 recovery?

The national energy and climate plans can help chart Europe’s way out of the COVID-19 pandemic and into carbon-free societies. This is not the time to weaken them but to make them stronger, while better involving all relevant stakeholders in their development and implementation.  The national energy and climate plans (NECPs) are a key pillar …

Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – June 2020

EU Green Deal at the heart of post-corona Europe Dear friends, Our leaders are hoping to clinch a deal in the coming weeks on the EU’s financial recovery package and the multi-annual budget. In September, we expect the European Commission to announce its proposal for an improved 2030 climate target. The science says that Europe …

More climate action through better planning

This article is a summary of an interview published on the European Commission website 15 June 2020 Stopping the climate crisis will require us to substantially cut carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy, as well as to rapidly transition to a zero-carbon energy mix. To this end, European Union member states need to …

Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – April 2020

Blank cheque bailouts to polluters are not the way out of the pandemic Dear friends, This week we heard encouraging messages from the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, an annual global meeting of environment and climate ministers. In their video statements (how else?), leaders from across the world vowed to deliver a green recovery. Their message was …

Climate Law improves oversight over EU Member States’ climate policy planning

BRUSSELS 4 March 2020. The EU national energy and climate plans (NECPs) will become a key tool to monitor countries’ progress towards climate neutrality by 2050. PlanUp urges the Commission to strengthen the process and ensure effective coordination with the Member States to exploit the full potential of the NECPs.  Today, the European Commission unveiled …

Climate strikes: people do not want to be left behind, and governments should listen to them

People from all walks of life took to the streets on Friday 20 September demanding urgent climate action from their governments. But so far our leaders are not only failing to deliver the kind of emission cuts needed to stop the climate crisis but also to involve citizens in their climate decision-making.  More and more …

Do Europe’s powerful and clean live up to the expectations to lead on climate?

Following the publication of the European Commission’s recommendations on EU countries’ draft energy and climate plans, LIFE PlanUp has analysed the plans of Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Germany and France. While the plans include ambitious goals, they lack concrete policies and measures to deliver on the promises. On 18 June 2019, the European Commission released its …

Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – June 2019

EU governments breach citizens’ right to information on international aviation climate policy Dear friends, As I write this at the UN Climate Change Conference, Bonn, along with the rest of Western Europe, is sweltering in the scorching heat, an uncomfortable foretaste of what an ever-warming climate has in store for us. I can only hope that …