January newsletter editorial: Europe’s sustainable energy quandary

by Sabine Frank2050 climate strategies, Decarbonising European industry, EU carbon market, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Dear friends, Shortly before a dinner guest around our New Year’s Eve table asked me whether it will really be possible to satisfy all our future energy needs with electricity from renewable sources, the European Commission slipped through its controversial proposal for what constitutes green investment.  In the Commission’s draft addition to the green taxonomy, …

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November editorial: A bad deal or no deal at COP26?

by Sabine Frank2050 climate strategies, Climate finance, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Dear friends, ‘No deal is better than a bad deal’ is the message which underpinned our advocacy for integrity in international carbon markets during the six years since the Paris Agreement brought fresh hope for change.  The sheer weight of self-repetition over such a long time could lead one to chalk up the compromise deal …

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COP26: The many shades of activism

by Sabine FrankGlobal markets, Human rights in climate actionPosted on Comments are Disabled

Emissions offsetting has drawn fresh fire from some activists for its patchy human rights and environmental record. At Carbon Market Watch, we are convinced that emissions trading, like it or not, is here to stay and so we must find a way to make it best serve communities and the climate. On day four of …

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October editorial: COP26 and the rise of the climate inactivists

by Sabine Frank2050 climate strategies, Climate finance, Global markets, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

We fight the climate wars no longer only against denialists but also against what climate scientist Michael Mann calls “inactivists”, writes Sabine Frank.  I don’t know at which UN climate conference this trend began, but at COP15 in Copenhagen, the shift was certainly not yet apparent. The recent BBC ‘conspiracy thriller’ The Trick is a  …

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September editorial: Seeking common ground on the climate crisis

by Sabine FrankCarbon dioxide removals, Decarbonising European industry, EU carbon market, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

The European Emissions Trading System covers almost half of Europe’s climate problem, but it occupies only a fraction of the public mind. We’ve teamed up with a dozen other NGOs in Europe for the Emissions Trading eXtra (ETX) project to shine a floodlight on the ETS and its future, as well as to tilt up …

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The lengthened and stony road to Glasgow

by Sabine FrankGlobal marketsPosted on Comments are Disabled

A reminder of the tricky issues of agreement on global carbon market rules in the context of ratcheting up climate ambition Raising ambition is the primordial task for governments ahead of and at the next UN climate conference. But it will also be essential to finally agree on the rules that will govern global carbon …

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The EU Emission Trading System – carbon pricing as an important tool to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal

by Sabine FrankDecarbonising European industry, EU carbon market, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

First published in ECA Journal 02/2020: Climate Change and Audit By Sabine Frank, Executive Director, Carbon Market Watch In a world that is increasingly feeling the consequences of climate change, the idea of polluters paying for their pollution makes more and more sense. The EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) reflects exactly that thought and is …

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Wird der deutsche CO2-Preisplan der Herausforderung des Klimawandels gerecht?

by Sabine FrankEU carbon marketPosted on Comments are Disabled

… und wie sieht die Zukunft für den EU-Kohlenstoffmarkt aus? Ein Interview mit Sabine Frank Meinen Sie, dass das Klimapaket der Bundesregierung und sein CO2-Preiselement der Aufgabe gewachsen sind, den Wandel zu Klimaneutralität im Land voranzutreiben? Es ist ein Fortschritt, die Umweltverschmutzung im Verkehrs- und Wärmesektor zu verteuern. Aber der Schritt selbst ist nicht groß …

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Is the German carbon pricing plan fit for purpose?

by Sabine FrankEU carbon marketPosted on Comments are Disabled

…and what does the future look like for the EU carbon market? An interview with Sabine Frank, director of Carbon Market Watch A German version here Do you think that the German government’s climate package and its carbon pricing element are up to the task to drive a clean transition in the country? Putting a …

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