This piece was first published on Euractiv on 9 October 2017 EU member states can enable the upscaling of good examples of local climate action by closing loopholes in the Effort Sharing Regulation, a centerpiece of the EU’s climate policy, write Claire Roumet and Femke de Jong. This week, the EU environment ministers will adopt …
Read more “Closing the loopholes in the EU’s centerpiece climate law”
This article was first published on Euractiv on 27 June 2017 Amid calls from heavy industry to get more free pollution permits in the name of a ‘fair’ EU carbon market, Europe’s workers, taxpayers, and the climate must not be forgotten in the system’s design reform, writes Femke de Jong. Today, the representatives of EU …
This article was first published on Euractiv on 29 May 2017 As the negotiations on Europe’s key climate policies draw to an end, it is time to take stock and ask if Europe, a self-proclaimed climate leader, is really delivering on its international commitments, writes Femke De Jong. Two months ago we released a ranking showing Sweden, …
Read more “Who is still pursuing the Paris climate goals in Europe?”
This week key policymakers of the European Parliament discuss the EU’s largest climate instrument. Ahead of the debate, five organizations expose how a loophole in the law could significantly increase the costs of post-2030 climate efforts by delaying the required emission reductions in the agriculture sector. The Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) covers around 60% of …
Read more “The cost of climate inaction in the agricultural sector”
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.
Earlier this month, the EU Court of Justice ruled against a case by eight Swedish heavy industry operators that were asking for more free pollution permits under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) than they currently get. The EU ETS -meant to cut pollution- has so far provided industry a €24 billion pollution payout, a bill that taxpayers are picking up as governments forego scarce public money.
After the UK referendum on the EU, some people have started to voice concerns that a “Brexit” would leave a vacuum in the EU climate policy as the UK is generally perceived as a climate leader. Fortunately, certain other countries, including France and Sweden, have recently stepped up their efforts to increase the EU’s climate …
Read more “Sweden and France – the new European climate leaders?”
In the past few months, carbon intensive industries have ratcheted up their efforts to convince policymakers that ‘real’ data should be used to assess how many free pollution permits to give out under the EU’s carbon market rules. Carbon Market Watch also values the use of accurate, up-to-date information in the debate on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) reform. We therefore checked two recent claims by the industry.
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.
This week, the rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Environment committee (Ian Duncan) published his draft report on the EU’s carbon market reform, kicking off the legislative debate. Disappointingly, the proposal fails to address the most pressing issues that need fixing in order to make the EU ETS fit-for-purpose and in line with the Paris climate agreement.
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