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…
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…
We joined the World Press Clubs Alliance for Climate launch event on Friday 23 October. Watch the interview with Sabine Frank here. Companies and governments are announcing “climate-neutrality” targets, and consumers are being offered ways to offset their carbon footprint. What does this mean in practice? How can we distinguish between real climate action and…
Companies are increasingly adopting “climate-neutrality” targets, which often include relying on forests to compensate for pollution. After yet another such offset project was swallowed by flames in California, unresolved questions about forest and land offsets resurface. It’s a simple tagline for green marketing campaigns: “Enjoy our product, it’s climate neutral”. While the tagline is simple,…
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…
Carbon Market Watch webinar discussed opportunities and barriers to the decarbonisation of cement and steel sectors Europe will not become climate neutral without decarbonising its heavy industry. Technical solutions to achieve deep emission cuts in sectors such as steel and cement exist, but strengthening the EU carbon market and implementing a smart mix of policy…
The annual carbon market survey by the financial market data analyst Refinitiv shows high confidence in the European Green Deal in strengthening the EU carbon market. First, the 80 respondents that answered to the questions about EU policies, see the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) as the most important tool for reducing greenhouse gas…
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…
This opinion article was first published in Carbon Pulse on March 30, 2020 As part of the work to establish an international carbon market for aviation, CORSIA, a group of experts recently recommended restrictions for the types of carbon offsets that can and cannot be used by airlines. These restrictions were adopted by the UN aviation…
Kaisa Amaral, Communications Director
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