News & Press
By Miriam Vicente Marcos on 25 Feb 2021
Taking aim at the economic and climate crises – but do member states’ recovery plans really hit the target?
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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By Wijnand Stoefs on 25 Feb 2021
Concrete ideas to divert attention
Debunking industrial carbon removal claims: Cembureau Removing carbon from the atmosphere as a concept is gaining traction around the world. While some form of it will likely be needed to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees, cutting pollution must remain the immediate priority. As industry struggles to imagine or operationalise net-zero emissions plans by…
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By Wijnand Stoefs on 26 Nov 2020
Carbon removals: a hot topic that requires a cool head
There is a lot of hype around possibilities of sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and the topic is also on the EU policy-making agenda. Plenty of ways to do this exists already, but all of them come with challenges. Understanding and defining what “carbon dioxide removals” are, is a first step towards avoiding policy…
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By Elisa Martellucci on 7 Jul 2020
What role for national energy and climate plans in the COVID-19 recovery?
The national energy and climate plans can help chart Europe’s way out of the COVID-19 pandemic and into carbon-free societies. This is not the time to weaken them but to make them stronger, while better involving all relevant stakeholders in their development and implementation. The national energy and climate plans (NECPs) are a key pillar…
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By Wijnand Stoefs on 25 Jun 2020
Towards more sustainable and transparent investments?
New European reporting guidelines would make it mandatory for large companies to disclose the climate impact of their activities as well as how they plan to mitigate it. This would bring more clarity for consumers, taxpayers and investors alike on how their money is spent and therefore lead to more sustainable investments. The European Commission…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 24 Jun 2020
More climate action through better planning
This article is a summary of an interview published on the European Commission website 15 June 2020 Stopping the climate crisis will require us to substantially cut carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy, as well as to rapidly transition to a zero-carbon energy mix. To this end, European Union member states need to…
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By Wijnand Stoefs on 27 May 2020
What “negative emissions”?
To limit global heating to 1.5 degrees, it will no longer be enough to just cut our pollution; some emissions will likely have to be removed from the atmosphere and permanently stored. Together with partners, Carbon Market Watch launches a new project with the aim to provide decision-makers with concrete policy recommendations to ensure responsible…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 14 May 2020
Lead EU lawmaker’s strong call for climate action
4 key takeaways from MEP Guteland’s draft EU Climate Law report The lawmaker in charge of the EU Climate Law at the European Parliament proposes that the EU adopts a 65% emission target for 2030 and carbon budgets in line with the latest scientific data. She also calls on all EU governments to endorse the…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 9 Mar 2020
What does the EU Climate Law have to do with cement?
Committing to climate neutrality in the long term sends an important signal, but getting there needs short-term climate action and will not happen without cleaning up Europe’s heavy industry. The European Green Deal was unveiled by the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen in December 2019. It is the new Commission’s master plan…
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By Agnese Ruggiero on 25 Sep 2019
Climate strikes: people do not want to be left behind, and governments should listen to them
People from all walks of life took to the streets on Friday 20 September demanding urgent climate action from their governments. But so far our leaders are not only failing to deliver the kind of emission cuts needed to stop the climate crisis but also to involve citizens in their climate decision-making. More and more…
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