Gearing up for the EU carbon market rules revision The deadline for public consultation on the EU carbon market rules review passed earlier this month. A look at the input from industry is revealing. For example, the cement sector wants to be rewarded for using uncertain (taxpayer-funded) carbon capture and storage or utilisation to deal…
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…
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…
Europe’s renewed climate commitment under scrutiny Dear friends, The European Commission has proposed to strengthen Europe’s 2030 climate target to at least 55%. While a very positive development, the new target nevertheless falls short of what science says is needed for the EU to do its share to keep global warming at safe levels. Critically,…
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…
EU Green Deal at the heart of post-corona Europe Dear friends, Our leaders are hoping to clinch a deal in the coming weeks on the EU’s financial recovery package and the multi-annual budget. In September, we expect the European Commission to announce its proposal for an improved 2030 climate target. The science says that Europe…
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…
Blank cheque bailouts to polluters are not the way out of the pandemic Dear friends, This week we heard encouraging messages from the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, an annual global meeting of environment and climate ministers. In their video statements (how else?), leaders from across the world vowed to deliver a green recovery. Their message was…
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…
EU governments breach citizens’ right to information on international aviation climate policy Dear friends, As I write this at the UN Climate Change Conference, Bonn, along with the rest of Western Europe, is sweltering in the scorching heat, an uncomfortable foretaste of what an ever-warming climate has in store for us. I can only hope that…
Kaisa Amaral, Communications Director
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Carbon pricing 
International transport 
Climate governance 
Fair climate action