A sustainable carbons cycle or a vicious emissions cycle?

by Wijnand StoefsCarbon dioxide removals, Decarbonising European industry, Effort Sharing Regulation, Land use and forestry, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Despite some good elements, the European Commission’s proposed carbon removal strategy leaves the door wide open to offsetting after 2030, which will undermine its ability to reduce emissions, writes Wijnand Stoefs. On 15 December 2021, the European Commission published its Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication, which showcases its vision for carbon farming, industrial carbon capture and …

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EU must stop subsidising polluters with hundreds of billions in free emissions allowances, green groups demand

by Khaled DiabDecarbonising European industry, Effort Sharing Regulation, EU carbon market, National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Even though the European Union’s Emissions Trading System has already issued over €200 billions in free emissions permits, the European Commission is proposing hundreds of billions of euros of additional free allowances for polluting industries. Europe must scrap these pollution subsidies and make polluters pay the true price of their pollution, environmental NGOs urge EU …

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Unsustainable business cycles trump sustainable carbon cycles in EU’s CO2 removals strategy

by Wijnand StoefsCarbon dioxide removals, Decarbonising European industry, Effort Sharing Regulation, Land use and forestry, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

The European Commission released today its much-anticipated Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication. The strategy undermines its own goals of reducing atmospheric carbon concentration by allowing companies to use removals to offset their emissions in the future. The strategy sets out a blueprint for how the European Union can harness carbon dioxide removals and so-called carbon farming …

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How to get ‘Fit for 55’ in shape for the climate emergency

by Agnese Ruggiero2050 climate strategies, Decarbonising European industry, EU carbon market, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable development, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Some EU governments believe the ‘Fit for 55’ package is too ambitious but, in reality, it is not ambitious enough. More action is needed today because tomorrow will be too late to avoid catastrophic global warming, write Agnese Ruggiero and Andrew Marshall. This week, European environment ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss the draft ‘Fit …

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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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Harnessing people power to reduce emissions

by Noemí Rodrigo SabioDecarbonising European industry, EU carbon market, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

A new project led by Carbon Market Watch seeks to empower European civil society to shape the EU’s Emissions Trading System and carbon pricing policies. Carbon Market Watch launched Emissions Trading eXtra (ETX) earlier this month. This new project aims to enhance European climate governance and optimise the functioning of the EU’s carbon market, the …

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Why Europe cannot rely on forests to meet its climate targets

by Kaisa AmaralCarbon dioxide removals, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

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 …

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Making the industrial pollution law fit for the EU Green Deal

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

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 …

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Taking aim at the economic and climate crises – but do member states’ recovery plans really hit the target?

by CMWNational Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) may well be off-target (and Poland hasn’t published one yet). By not covering in sufficient detail all aspects of the green transition in their plans, these member states could be missing out on the chance to use EU recovery funds to tackle the economic …

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Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger [1]

by Sam Van den plasEU carbon market, The EU Green Deal and Climate LawPosted on Comments are Disabled

Two key elements to get right in the EU carbon market review The upcoming revision of the EU carbon market rules is an opportunity to ensure that industries covered by it cut their pollution in line with the EU Green Deal objectives and the Paris Climate Agreement. Agreeing on a faster pace at which emissions …

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