Fixing the Commission’s innovation fixation: Three recommendations for the overhaul of the Innovation Fund

Following the revamping of the EU’s Emissions Trading System, the associated Innovation Fund also requires an overhaul to ensure it serves the purpose of accelerating decarbonisation. Here are Carbon Market Watch’s and Sandbag’s recommendations. The EU’s Innovation Fund, launched in 2018, is the EU’s programme for funding cutting-edge low-carbon technologies. To be eligible, projects must …

Carbon copy: Draft European Parliament report fails to correct faulty carbon removals framework

The European Parliament Environment Committee’s rapporteur has preserved most of the defects in her draft report reacting to the European Commission’s proposed Carbon Removal Certification Framework. The draft report, composed by MEP Lídia Pereira of the European People’s Party,  contains many small improvements compared with the European Commission’s original proposal for a Carbon Removal Certification …

BAH, HUMBUG! END €TS FREEBIES. MAKE POLLUTERS PAY FOR A FAIR AND CLEAN TRANSFORMATION

Final deal on EU carbon market (ETS) gives heavy industry a free pass at the expense of households and taxpayers

The long process that was meant to transform the EU’s Emissions Trading System into an effective tool for climate action has culminated in a final deal that will not reduce Europe’s industrial carbon footprint rapidly enough to tackle the climate crisis. The reformed EU ETS lavishes freebies on polluting industries and leaves households and taxpayers with the bill.

Decarbonising cement: Options for reforming the EU’s Emissions Trading System

Cement production is one of the largest and most carbon-intensive sectors in the European Union. The industry emits 114 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. To ensure the EU achieves climate neutrality well before 2050, it is necessary to drastically reduce emissions
in the cement sector. The EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the key instrument for incentivising emissions reduction in energy-intensive sectors, such as cement, but it has been underperforming compared with its potential. The ongoing revision of the system is a crucial opportunity to strengthen the EU ETS

European airlines misleading customers with claims of “carbon-neutral” flights – study

A new study commissioned by Carbon Market Watch has revealed gaping holes in the effectiveness of voluntary climate action taken by eight major European airlines. Misleading claims of “carbon neutral” flying, a dependence on poor quality carbon offsets and the low cost of a tonne of CO2 that customers can pay to offset are just …

Abandoned factory in Liege, Belgium.

October newsletter editorial: Decarbonisation is not deindustrialisation

At Carbon Market Watch, we seek to decarbonise society, not to deindustrialise it, out of a conviction that our future prosperity depends on our ability to live within the planet’s limits, for the good of society, for the good of nature and, ultimately, for the long-term good of businesses themselves. We went on a tour …