Tag: greenhouse gas emissions

The Bush administration's staunch opposition to an EU plan to cap emissions from planes flying to and from Europe has come under attack as a number of American states called for US airlines to be included in a similar scheme.

Environment ministers from the EU's 27 member states have put the final touches on the bloc's official negotiating position for a UN conference in December, where world leaders are to discuss the outlines of a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol.

The emissions trading scheme currently in place in the EU has "fundamental flaws", writes Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER).

Air transport officials from around the world rejected ambitious EU proposals on cutting greenhouse gases from international aviation at an annual meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. But the EU stressed it would not back down on its plan to include foreign airlines in its carbon cap-and-trade system.

The EU joined 190 countries in signing a unanimous agreement to accelerate by ten years the phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals used in refrigeration and cooling systems.

As carmakers ready to show off their 'greenest' models at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, the environmental lobby Transport and Environment revealed new figures revealing the industry's close-to-nil progress made towards cutting carbon dioxide emissions in the past year.

Industrialised nations meeting at a UN-led conference in Vienna agreed that they will need to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by at least a quarter by 2020 in order to slow down global warming and stabilise the world climate. But governments continued to disagree over the need for binding targets.

The biogas sector is growing rapidly amid increasing concerns about oil and gas prices and climate change, according to a new report prepared by a consortium of renewable energy groups. 

Carmakers should face fines for vehicles that fail to meet future EU CO2 emission limits, with manufacturers of even cleaner cars receiving financial rewards, according to a draft report by UK Liberal MEP Chris Davies, to be voted on later this year in Parliament. 

The EU and the US have vowed to co-operate on reducing global aviation's contribution to climate change under a "green skies" partnership, but the deal is unlikely to hold off a dispute over a separate EU plan to make all airlines flying via Europe trade carbon permits.

Including aviation in the EU’s carbon emissions-trading system is the most cost-effective and flexible means of curbing the sector’s fast-growing emissions, German MEP Peter Liese (EPP-ED), Rapporteur on the proposal, told EurActiv as Parliament prepares to examine the draft Directive.

The greenhouse-gas emission impacts from different corn ethanol processing plant types can vary significantly, new research from the US Centre for Transportation Research reveals - from a 3% increase if coal is the process fuel to a 52% reduction if wood chips are used.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with US President George W. Bush ahead of the G8 summit in a last-ditch attempt to convince him to commit to key targets and timetables for fighting global warming.

Greenhouse-gas emissions in the EU have decreased between 2004 and 2005, according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA). But despite the good news, emitters will have to gear up efforts for the second phase of the emissions-trading scheme, which starts in 2008.

With automobile manufacturers expected to miss their 2012 voluntary target to reduce CO2 emissions, the Commission is divided on whether to introduce new binding legislation.

EU member states are planning to make such widespread use of carbon-reduction projects in the developing world that they could abandon cutting emissions at home, according to research.

Speakers from all major political groups in the European Parliament attacked the Commission for being soft on Member States after a majority of EU countries missed a 30 June deadline to submit CO2 emissions trading plans.

Experts from the 'European Climate Platform' (ECP – a joint initiative by CLIPORE and CEPS) identify the key strategic and operational issues for the review of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) later this year.

Early reports that German industry released far less carbon dioxide than allowed under the EU CO2 trading scheme sent carbon prices dropping on 12 May. Official data for the whole EU were published 15 May.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-15 decreased by a mere 1.7% between 1990 and 2003 with CO2 alone growing by 3.4%, according to the latest statistics from the European Environment Agency.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is visiting the US to discuss climate change and sustainable development with US officials and NGOs.

Ministers, business leaders and scientists meeting in Berlin affirmed that the threat from climate change was "real, serious and urgent" and vowed to take leadership to curb global warming.

The Commission has approved eight national allocation plans for CO2 emissions trading and warned two Member States for being too late with theirs. A further batch of assessments is expected in September.

F-gases in cars' air conditioning systems are to be banned from 2014, but will be maintained in refrigerators and other home equipment. Environmentalists say Parliament bowed to industry pressures.