After long negotiations, MEPs voted on Tuesday (6 October) in favour of further increasing the bloc's emissions target to 60% by 2030. In a double-interview with EURACTIV Germany, two German MEPs discuss what this could mean for the EU and Germany, as well as how the new target could be achieved.
The European Commission will present today (17 September) detailed proposals to reduce carbon emissions in the EU by 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. While German industry officially welcomes the new ambitions, it is also clearly sceptical. EURACTIV Germany reports.
The COVID-19 crisis should strengthen Europe’s resolve to achieve the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement by triggering policies that maintain fossil fuel prices above a minimum level, French authorities have said.
An EU-wide April 30 deadline for firms to surrender emissions trading system (ETS) carbon allowances will stand, the European Commission said, despite calls from the cement and steel industry to extend it due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a dramatic impact on Germany's demand for electricity. According to initial projections, Germany could emit between 50 and 120 million tons less CO2 this year, meaning it could even exceed its climate target. EURACTIV Germany reports.
When Germany eventually closes its coal-fired power plants, millions of CO2 pollution credits will be flushed into the EU emissions trading system, threatening to send the EU carbon market crashing. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Germany has sent the EU Commission its official emissions figures for 2018, which are slightly lower than the previous year. Most reductions were made in the energy sector, while transport and agriculture still lag behind. Yet, Germany will not miss its climate targets for this decade as was initially anticipated. EURACTIV Germany reports.
The European Commission’s proposal to include new sectors in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is not expected to significantly reduce emissions but could risk the stability of the EU’s carbon market and the decarbonisation of the power sector, argue Outi Haanperä and Verena Graichen.
To deliver quick results at least political cost, the European Commission should focus on two measures when revising the EU Emissions Trading Scheme: strengthening the cap and enhancing the Market Stability Reserve (MSR), write Mari Pantsar and Outi Haanperä.
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is not a good instrument to cut road transport emissions because it will raise petrol prices and fuel popular discontent, as seen in the past with the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protests, writes William Todts. Road emissions...
In an interview with EURACTIV Germany, Karsten Neuhoff, a climate expert and professor, spoke about Germany's hotly-debated climate protection bill, stressing that a clear regulatory framework with "clear and credible paths for reducing emissions" is attractive for businesses.
The European Commission has asked EU countries to reject a UN resolution this week that could forbid the bloc from going further than the CORSIA aviation emissions reduction plan currently being developed at international level.
As coal-fired power stations close down across Europe, unused carbon pollution permits are slowly building up in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, creating a “coal bubble” that could send carbon prices crashing, campaigners warn.
France introduced a tax on airline tickets this week. However, this does not really replace a tax on kerosene, which continues to be tax-exempt across Europe. But why is the EU not introducing such a tax? EURACTIV Germany reports.
11,000 industrial sites subject to the so-called Quotas Directive are collectively reducing their emissions. However, this is not necessarily because of the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). EURACTIV's partner le Journal de l'environnement reports.
Two prominent think tanks in Germany presented a plan to help the country reach its EU climate targets for 2030. They serve as concrete proposals for Germany’s recently implemented climate cabinet, which is set to table its draft climate protection law by the summer. EURACTIV Germany reports.
In Germany, calls for introducing a CO2 emission tax are getting louder. Yet, the German government continues to be divided on the matter with the French ‘gilet jaunes’ appearing to be quite the deterrent. What would a socially acceptable price of CO2 look like? EURACTIV Germany reports.
The recently adopted reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is insufficient to trigger cost-efficient decarbonisation of the economy, argue Christian Flachsland and Anna Leipprand. A carbon floor price that starts at a significant level and rises over time would address the problem, they write.
International flights to and from the EU will remain free from paying CO2 emissions permits but the exemption will cease in 2021 unless EU bodies meanwhile decide otherwise, the European Parliament's environment committee agreed on Tuesday (11 July).
Amid calls from heavy industry to get more free pollution permits in the name of a ‘fair’ EU carbon market, Europe’s workers, taxpayers, and the climate must not be forgotten in the system’s design reform, writes Femke de Jong.
From nuclear plants in the UK and Hungary to coal-fired power stations in Germany, member states always manage to forge ahead with their energy projects, according to Georg Zachmann, who calls on EU leaders to sit down and seriously discuss the Energy Union’s governance.
The proposal to create an Energy Union is already two years old and remains one of the EU's most ambitious projects. But it risks falling behind expectations on climate policy, EURACTIV Germany reports.
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