Why Europe cannot rely on forests to meet its climate targets

EU Climate Law negotiators must keep emission reductions and forest protection as separate targets and agree to cut pollution by 65% over the next ten years.    Forests play a vital role as carbon sinks in efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change. They are essential for all life on Earth. They need protection so that they …

Carbon removals: a hot topic that requires a cool head

There is a lot of hype around possibilities of sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and the topic is also on the EU policy-making agenda. Plenty of ways to do this exists already, but all of them come with challenges. Understanding and defining what “carbon dioxide removals” are, is a first step towards avoiding policy …

On the Way to Climate Neutrality: Defining Real and Credible Carbon Removals

November 18th, 2020 14:00 – 16:30 REGISTRATION Background: The IPCC 1.5°C Special Report states that, in addition to the urgent need to cut CO2 pollution, significant carbon dioxide removals (CDR) will be necessary over this century. However, there are, potentially, risks involved in getting CDR policies wrong. Counting on removals that fail to materialise or …

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, …

EU Commission’s climate plan two steps forward, one step back

BRUSSELS 17 September 2020. The European Commission’s 2030 Climate Target Plan reiterates positive elements from the European Green Deal such as strengthening the EU carbon market and reducing free pollution permits to airlines. But the plan to rely on carbon sinks to reach the target waters down the overall ambitious plan and needs to be …

Carbon Market Watch response to public consultation for the EU climate ambition for 2030

EU climate policymaking should be informed and aligned with the latest available science and the EU’s commitment under the Paris Agreement, in particular the objective of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. In light of the EU’s capacity to act and principles of global equity, the Union should achieve at least 65% emission reductions by …

Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – May 2020

What kind of future do we want? Dear friends, The coronavirus debate is now very much focused on how to get our economies back on track, as governments ease up on the lockdown measures of recent months. Corporate lobbyists have been very active since the beginning of the turmoil. In our latest edition of the …