New EU ETS: time for steel, cement and chemicals to (be)come clean

The EU carbon market has helped drive down carbon pollution from Europe’s power sector but has failed to do the same for heavy industries such as cement, steel and chemicals. A part of the reason is the free allocation of pollution permits, which means that the industry has little incentive to clean up its act. …

Steel, cement and chemicals industries key to the clean transition 

The International Energy Agency outlines a path to a fossil-free future The International Energy Agency calls for an immediate stop to investments in and production of fossil fuels. For heavy industry decarbonisation, the “Net Zero by 2050” report relies too much on unproven technologies like carbon capture and storage. But it nevertheless sends a strong …

Four key issues to watch in the EU’s carbon market reform

This opinion piece was first published on Euractiv on 15 April 2021 EU carbon market emissions experienced a record fall last year, but when it comes to heavy industry, the effect is likely to be short-lived, writes Agnese Ruggiero. The latest EU carbon market emissions data released by European Commission on April 1 was not …

Making the industrial pollution law fit for the EU Green Deal

A recent Carbon Market Watch webinar discussed the upcoming revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive in the framework of the European Green Deal. Achieving the goals of the European Green Deal (EGD) will entail driving down greenhouse gas emissions as well as achieving zero pollution and a non-toxic environment by 2050. The upcoming revisions of …

EU carbon market report underlines the need to end pollution handouts

While the EU carbon market is helping to clean up Europe’s power sector, industrial CO2 pollution remained stubbornly high, and that from aviation kept growing in 2019. This is partly due to overly generous handouts of pollution permits. These subsidies must be phased out to incentivise cleaner production and more sustainable transport as the scheme …

How the EU carbon market’s lesser-known cousin could help drive industrial transformation

As the EU carbon market is failing to drive down industrial carbon pollution, other rules are needed to provide an extra push. The upcoming revision of the industrial emissions directive should include greenhouse gases within the law’s scope. This way, limits on carbon emissions would be included within the criteria that an industrial plant must …

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 …

Why we need more than just the EU carbon market to tackle industrial pollution

First published on Euractiv on 2 May 2019 Latest data shows that the market-based solution alone is not enough to cut carbon pollution from heavy industry in line with the Paris Agreement goals. A new industrial policy mix is needed to ensure Europe is on a pathway to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, writes Agnese Ruggiero. …