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…
Carbon Market Watch agenda outlines our priorities and key political milestones for the next months. Download here
Guest article by Kirsten Sleven, Director, WISE As the first country in the world, the Netherlands is about to introduce a carbon tax on industrial pollution. The tax is part of a broader policy package (Dutch Climate Agreement) to stimulate major industrial polluters to ‘decarbonize’ their production processes and was drawn up in consultation with…
BRUSSELS 11 December 2020. EU leaders have agreed a net 55% emissions reduction goal for 2030. While this replaces the outdated 40% goal, the target is not in line with the Paris Agreement[1] and Europe’s historic responsibility to cut emissions. Relying on forests and land to reach the target also means that in reality, EU…
‘Carbon removals’ must be approached with caution Carbon removals are becoming a hot topic and are also rising up on the EU’s policy-making agenda. There is no denying that we will need to suck CO2 pollution from the atmosphere over the course of this century to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. But…
As the global efforts to cut CO2 pollution from ships hit the wall, regions and countries must step up. In Europe, work to bring the sector under the bloc’s carbon market is ongoing, but slowing down. Earlier this month, the UN shipping agency International Maritime Organisation (IMO) approved a draft plan to cut CO2 pollution…
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…
A carbon border adjustment measure can support a clean industrial transition globally if it’s designed properly and fairly. It must replace all current EU pollution handouts and its revenues must be used wisely to drive innovation and to provide climate finance to countries that most need it. The EU Commission is preparing the law to…
Green Commitment Or Greenwashing? Since last year, Shell has been offering European motorists “carbon neutral” driving and recently Total announced that it is now selling “carbon neutral” liquified natural gas. Are the fossil fuel giants going green? No, we are not talking about electric car charging stations or renewable fuels. Both Shell and Total are…
The final EU carbon market state aid rules will ensure massive handouts of taxpayer money to large polluting industries such as oil refineries and plastic producers over the next decade. The EU ETS state aid guidelines for 2021-2030 set the framework for EU countries to compensate their electricity-intensive industries deemed at risk of ‘carbon leakage’…
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