Guest article by Susana Pinto from Quercus About 25 non-governmental organisations from Southern Europe, including Portuguese Quercus, gathered in Madrid on 5 and 6 April to exchange experiences and to explore ways to collaborate on European climate policies. While Portugal is on the right track when it comes to areas such as renewable energy, more …
Read more “‘Sharing experiences helps solve problems’ – Two days of intense climate action talks with Southern European NGOs”
The 2015 Paris Agreement, which sets out the framework for global climate action after 2020, includes the establishment of the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM). The goals of the SDM are to promote higher ambition that contributes to emission reductions and sustainable development, and deliver an overall mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
BRUSSELS 28 March 2017. Only three countries in Europe are on the right track to deliver on the Paris climate agreement, a new ranking published today reveals. The EU Climate Leader Board looks at the position of each European government towards the EU’s largest climate law, the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR). Sweden tops the list, …
Read more “Just three EU countries step up to the plate for Paris climate deal – ranking”
EU Member States are currently negotiating Europe’s key legislation for climate action, known as the Effort Sharing Regulation. Covering 60% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, the law will set binding national emission reduction targets for the 2021-2030 period for sectors such
as transport, buildings, agriculture and waste. In July 2016, the European Commission published the proposal for an Effort Sharing Regulation setting the basis for negotiations between EU ministers and Members of the European Parliament.
Last week the European Parliament adopted its position on the revision of the EU’s Emission Trading System (EU ETS) for the 2021-2030 period. Next week, EU environment ministers will try to reach an agreement on the reform deal. Time to take a fresh look at what is on the table, and what is at stake.
BRUSSELS 3 February 2017. The European Commission has proposed to continue to exempt all flights to and from Europe from paying for their pollution under the EU’s carbon market rules, following an international agreement on aviation emissions. An uncertain global agreement should not be allowed to undermine EU’s climate efforts. The proposal comes after the …
Read more “EU’s climate reputation bruised as long-haul flight exemption extended”
The European Commission last week finalized a decision to reduce the amount of free pollution permits handed out to energy intensive industry for the period up to 2020. This decision comes at a time when the European Parliament and EU ministers are deliberating over how many pollution permits heavy industry should get for free after 2020.
The ESR is a complicated beast and making the numbers easily accessible and digestible is essential to opening the door for widespread engagement with the ESR by citizens, NGOs, and businesses.
The Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) is the EU’s largest climate instrument and regulates about 60% of our total emissions. In recent weeks, rapporteurs from three European Parliament committees presented their visions for moving the legislation forward.