LEAK: EU’s draft strategic agenda for 2024-29 reinstates green priorities
Climate and environmental objectives have made their way back into the EU’s draft strategic agenda for the next five years following an earlier draft, as EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday to decide the priorities of the next European Commission and appoint its new president.
Read MoreFEATURE: The €1 trillion question – How to bridge the EU’s climate investment gap
When the new European Commission takes office later this year, it will have a tricky question to answer – how to find €1.5 trillion per year to finance the EU’s net-zero transition. As EU governments tighten their belts, revenues from carbon trading could provide a much-needed source of income, experts say.
Read MoreBRIEFING: ETS2 debate heats up ahead of EU leaders’ summit in Brussels
Poland’s development funds and regional policy minister, Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz, was the latest to urge a reform of the EU’s carbon pricing scheme for transport and heating fuels (ETS2), calling on EU leaders to address the issue when they meet in Brussels later this week. Carbon Pulse brings an overview of key positions in the debate.
Read MoreINTERVIEW: Climate targets ‘untouchable’, but other Green Deal laws must be rewritten, says EU election winner
The EU’s anti-deforestation regulation is a “bureaucratic monster” that must be revised, alongside the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, says Peter Liese, a German lawmaker who is environment spokesperson for the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) that won the EU elections this month.
Read MoreEU inaugurates green innovation hub in Seville
The European Commission on Friday launched its brand new Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCITE) in Seville, aiming to accelerate the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries to reach climate neutrality by mid-century.
Read MoreGermany’s climate fund is drying up, think-tank warns
Germany’s “Climate and Transformation Fund” (KTF) is nearing breaking point, putting the federal government in front of hard decisions, according to a study by the Berlin-based Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) published on Wednesday.
Read MoreINTERVIEW: Investors chilled by noise of European Green Deal unravelling
As competition with China and the US intensifies on clean tech, the EU must stay the course on the Green Deal and make sure it is implemented by filling the remaining gaps in areas like finance and electrification of end-uses, says Iberdrola’s director for climate, Gonzalo Saenz de Miera.
Read MoreEU bank urged to scale up public guarantees for clean tech investment
A group of 39 European clean tech innovators, investors, industry associations, researchers and NGOs have joined forces to call on the European Investment Bank (EIB) to ramp up public guarantees for investments in clean technologies ahead of a key board meeting on Friday.
Read MoreCalls grow louder for ‘new industrial deal’ to drive EU climate agenda
Industry associations in the cement, steel, chemicals and wind energy sector have joined forces to call for “a new industrial deal” to drive Europe’s transition to climate neutrality while securing jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Read MoreEU countries reach common stance on green corporate claims
The EU’s 27 environment ministers reached a common position on the EU’s Green Claims Directive on Monday, introducing a new definition for climate-related claims that distinguishes between “contributions” to greenhouse gas reduction efforts and those relying on carbon “offsets” such as reforestation projects.
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