Climate change Archives

Global warming emissions from the power sector fell by 12% last year, led by a steep decline in coal power generation, which was replaced half by natural gas and half by renewables, according to fresh data published on Wednesday (5 February).

Britain will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, five years earlier than previously planned, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Tuesday (3 February) as he launches a major UN climate summit due to take place in Glasgow in November.

Germany’s six-month Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, which starts in July, offers a great opportunity for Berlin to show leadership by supporting the implementation of the Commission’s European Green Deal agenda.

Glass is irreplaceable in buildings, making it a key part of the solution to unlock energy savings and help reach Europe's decarbonisation targets. But it's also an energy-intensive industry, for which no immediate clean energy alternative is available.

Germany's draft hydrogen strategy envisages the use of CO2-free gas for the industry and transport sector, as well as millions for research. Under the draft plan, a large part of the country's hydrogen will be purchased from abroad. EURACTIV Germany reports.

French oil giant Total's failure to respect France's 'corporate vigilance' law has led to human rights violations in Uganda, according to a group of French and Ugandan NGOs who are suing the company. But the court procedure has taken an unexpected turn that did not please the plaintiffs. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Commission will aim to “absolutely decouple” economic growth from natural resource use in a draft circular economy action plan due to be unveiled in March.

A sudden break on oil drilling caused by last-minute climate action from regulators could halve the value of new projects being developed today, according to fresh analysis published on Friday (31 January).

Economic uncertainty caused by the UK’s imminent EU departure did not stop the European Investment Bank (EIB) having a record-breaking year in 2019, according to the bank’s president. Werner Hoyer said that the lender dealt with it “surprisingly well”.

The German federal cabinet signed off on the country's coal phase-out bill on Wednesday (29 January), giving its blessing to billions worth of taxpayer money to compensate for power companies' lost revenues. EURACTIV Germany reports.

With Europe’s climate neutrality target soon becoming law, energy TSOs have launched joint scenarios to test gas and electricity networks against growing shares of renewables. Under current plans, they foresee 300-800 TWh of renewables feeding into electrolysers by 2050.

If Europe goes climate neutral, it will consume more flat glass, predicts Christian Quenett. And the benefits could be huge: simply doubling the replacement rate of windows, in line with the European Green Deal, would achieve 20% of the EU’s energy efficiency targets for 2030, he says.

Where did the water from Bulgaria's Studena Dam disappear, creating a humanitarian crisis for more than 100,000 people in the city of Pernik? Following the first part of Valya Ahchieva's investigation, the Minister of environment and water Neno Dimov was arrested.

A high-level ministerial conference in Berlin launched on Tuesday (28 January) the ‘Green Central Asia’ initiative, intended to support regional integration between the five Central Asian countries and Afghanistan. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who hosted the conference, stressed that the …

French oil group Total is responsible for 1% of the world's CO2 emissions and failing to respect its so-called 'corporate duty of vigilance', according to a group of plaintiffs representing 14 local authorities and four NGOs who are bringing a case against the giant. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Commission launched a public debate about the EU’s upcoming Climate Law on Tuesday (28 January), with a view to enshrining the bloc’s 2050 “climate neutrality” target into binding legislation before the UN climate conference in Glasgow later this year.

The EU could deploy a carbon border tax against the UK after Brexit, according to the head of the European Parliament’s environment committee, if Westminster diverges from bloc rules on issues like carbon markets.

Climate action can be the polestar guiding EU leaders through turbulent economic waters, writes Pascal Lamy, calling on politicians to put climate policy at the heart of a coherent industrial strategy.

Climate change dominated discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but this year’s sunny edition was dry on the consensus required to drive the global economy towards a greener future. 

The climate neutrality puzzle is massive. As EU affairs ministers meet in Brussels today (27 January), they should ensure €260 billion are invested annually to lead a fair and just transition away from fossil fuels, campaigners write.

There are signs US President Donald Trump is starting to engage more seriously on climate change and listening to the concerns of corporations, the European Commission's vice-president and head of its 'Green Deal' said on Thursday (23 January).

When European Union leaders signed off on a pledge to reach “climate neutrality” by 2050, they also eventually rang the death knell of the natural gas industry as we know it.

ECB chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday (23 January) said the bank would study what role it could play in combatting climate change as part of a major policy review, warning of "the danger of doing nothing".

Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists annually adjusts its symbolic Doomsday Clock, which indicates how close humanity and the planet are to complete disaster. This year, we're closer than ever, the scientists announced on Thursday (23 January).