The position adopted today by the European Parliament’s industry committee on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) does little to reform the EU’s key climate legislation or to bring it in line with the Paris climate change agreement.
Ahead of a committee vote at the European Parliament on the revision of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), four civil society networks and 22 organisations across Europe call on committee members to stop coal subsidies and take measures to ensure meaningful carbon price.
It is a pleasure to invite you to our upcoming civil society workshop on the implementation of European climate policies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
At a time when the world has agreed on a universal agenda to address the global challenges of climate change, notably with the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the European Union (EU) is in the process of adopting legislative proposals to bring its climate policies in line with these global commitments.
In summer 2016, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal for the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) for the 2021-2030 period. The ESR sets national emission reduction targets for the EU Member States for the transport, buildings, agriculture and waste sectors.
As part of work to produce a climate and energy package for 2030, the European Commission is currently reviewing the sustainability of all uses and sources of bioenergy for the period after 2020.1 The European Commission will also propose a new policy on how to include the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in the EU’s …
Read more “Joint Policy Brief: Why LULUCF cannot ensure that bioenergy reduces emissions”
EU environment ministers will discuss whether the proposed revisions of the EU’s carbon market are enough to bring the bloc’s flagship climate instrument in line with the Paris climate change agreement. Carbon Market Watch answers key questions to help ministers come up with an appropriate response.
To match the ambition of the Paris Agreement the revised ESD for the post-2020 period should:
– European Union policy – meant to curb pollution – currently gives away more in pollution payouts than for innovation support – Split in industry opinion adds momentum for urgent overhaul of crucial policy currently not “fit for purpose” Brussels 25 May 2016 – New analysis shows that energy intensive industries are able to reduce …
Read more “New report finds energy intensive industry can cut emissions by 80% without losing competitiveness”
The EU has a long-term climate objective of achieving economy-wide emission reductions of 80-95% by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change. It is often argued that such deep emission reductions are technically impossible or that they would harm the economy and create unemployment.
In the spring of 2016, Carbon Market Watch therefore asked the Institute for European Studies to look at the feasibility of such emission cuts by 2050 in three of the most important manufacturing sectors in Europe: chemicals, steel and cement. The main findings of the report “The Final Frontier – Decarbonising Europe’s energy intensive industries” are summarised in this briefing.
In April the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled against a case by carbon-intensive industries that had sought additional free pollution permits from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Court’s declaration backfired on the companies, when it ruled that the allocation of free permits had in fact been too generous, giving the Commission 10 months to recalculate the amount of free permits for the period up to 2020.