Tag: climate change

The growing row over biofuels is ready to flare up again with German researchers claiming to have found evidence that European-produced biodiesel does not meet the sustainability targets claimed by Brussels.

Sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing at a far greater rate than previously expected, according to data from the first purpose-built satellite launched to study the thickness of the Earth's polar caps.

German researchers have unveiled evidence suggesting that EU claims, according to which locally-produced rapeseed biodiesel cut back at least 38% of greenhouse gases (GHG) compared with fossil fuels,  are unfounded.

European climate policy has to be flexible with respect to the outcome of international negotiations as well as updates in the evaluation of climate change, says a Bruegel analysis.

The European Commission has drawn up a list of 14 industrial sectors that will be eligible for special state aid to compensate for the increased cost of electricity due to the European Emission Trading System (ETS), according to a draft paper seen by EurActiv.

The world is on track for around four degrees Celsius of global warming under current carbon emissions trends, says the EU’s chief climate negotiator, a trajectory that some scientists say risks a planetary mass extinction event.

The world's oceans are turning acidic at what could be the fastest pace of any time in the past 300 million years, even more rapidly than during a monster emission of planet-warming carbon 56 million years ago, European and US scientists say in a new study.

As political and societal will gathers to massively cut carbon emissions over the next years, the value of carbon-intensive oil and gas firms is likely to plummet, potentially leaving taxpayers with the burden for bailing them out, argues Matthew Ulterino.

A huge pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean is expanding and could lower Europe’s temperature by causing a mild ocean current to slow down, British scientists say.

The Durban summit marked a breakthrough in introducing a new phase of international climate policy and it was the EU that paved the way for the others to follow its ambitious climate strategy, writes Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action.

Climate negotiators agreed a pact on Sunday (11 December) that would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to take action on greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the action plan was not aggressive enough to slow the pace of global warming.

Negotiators in Durban must put aside their national interests and come up with common targets on emission cuts and climate funding within the spirit of solidarity in order to achieve a climate breakthrough, argues Roeland Scholtalbers.

The European Parliament called yesterday (16 November) for the EU to have a leading role in the forthcoming UN climate change conference in Durban and to push for the extension of the Kyoto protocol unless a new legally binding deal is agreed.

Global warming is 'real' and temperatures have climbed steadily over the past decades, a long-awaited, independent study has found, refuting sceptics' claims that there isn't enough evidence to assert that the world climate is changing.

Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger abandoned the proposal to oblige power companies to reduce customers' energy use, effectively gutting the EU's long-awaited Energy Efficiency Directive, argue Brook Riley and Erica Hope.

Wind power is the next great source of renewable energy, with China and the EU engaged in a competition to dominate the rapidly expanding market, argues Eberhard Rhein.

The EU should reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2020 and complete its transition to a low-carbon economy, argue young environmental campaigners from 'Push Europe', demanding an inheritance that is "clean, safe and equitable".

Including aviation in the EU's emissions trading scheme does not violate international trade law and will in fact pave the way for other nations to develop their own emissions trading systems, argues Eberhard Rhein.

Eberhard Rhein argues the benefits of rapidly removing Germany's nuclear plants far outstrip the economic costs.

Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3% over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday. The impacts translated into up to 20% higher average commodity prices, before accounting for other factors, according to the paper published in the journal Science.

Wind is already Europe's second most important source of renewable energy, but by 2050 it should be both economically and technically feasible for it to become the continent's primary source of overall energy, argues Eberhard Rhein.

The British government is "highly likely" to block European Commission proposals for a carbon tax contained in a widely-circulated draft version of the Energy Taxation Directive, EU diplomatic sources said yesterday (12 April).

A tussle between different designs of plugs used in prototype electric cars has derailed an attempt to create a common European standard, highlighting industrial jealousy as the sector attempts to go mainstream.

The world faces a severe food security crisis as a result of climate change, soil erosion and population growth. Food security is a much greater threat to national security than armed aggression, Lester Brown told EurActiv in this exclusive interview on the fringes of the 'Forum for the Future of Agriculture'.