Energy transition
Carbon pricing dropped from new Franco-German treaty
France and Germany will cement their historic post-war reconciliation with the signing of a new Elysée treaty on Tuesday (22 January). But the draft text, seen by EURACTIV, no longer mentions carbon pricing among new bilateral initiatives.
French wind energy ‘in limbo’ for more than a year
Not a single wind energy project has been approved in France since December 2017, an embarrassing fact for Paris as it tries to position itself as a champion of climate action in Europe.
EU climate plan no-shows submit excuses instead
EU nations that missed an end-of-2018 deadline to submit their draft energy and climate plans to the European Commission have started to offer up their excuses for their lateness.
‘Merkel deceived us on climate’, says Germany’s Energiewende godfather
Berlin lacks the political will to bring the energy transition forward, said Hans Josef Fell, the initiator of Germany's world-renowned 2000 renewable energy feed-in tariff legislation, in an interview with EURACTIV.com.
UK revealed as EU champion of fossil fuel subsidies
The United Kingdom spends the most in the EU on subsidising fossil fuels, according to a new report by the European Commission, which also found that EU-wide payments have failed to decrease despite the bloc’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
China seen as ‘absolute winner’ of clean energy transition
The transformation brought by renewable energies will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states, and the environmental drivers of geopolitical instability, according to a major international study published on Friday (11 January).
EU’s electricity market revamp hailed as ‘game-changer’ for clean energy
A recent agreement to reform Europe’s electricity market has enshrined into EU law the unprecedented right of consumers to produce, sell and share their own electricity in newly-defined “citizen energy communities”.
Juncker attends closure of Germany’s last black coal mine
Germany will close its last black coal mine on Friday (21 December), a milestone marking the end of a 200-year-old industry that once fuelled the country's economic growth but lost the battle against cheaper foreign competitors.
‘Yellow vests’ killed EU bid to phase out regulated electricity prices
A European Commission proposal to phase-out regulated prices of electricity looked set to win approval from EU member states until the 'yellow vest' movement swept across France and nipped it in the bud.
Reform programmes should compensate low-income workers, OECD says
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has urged governments to pay attention to the consequences of their policies and compensate vulnerable groups that could be hit by new taxes.
EU forges deal on coal phase-out, with special Polish clause
European Union legislators reached agreement in the early hours of Wednesday (19 December) over a proposed reform of electricity market rules that includes a 2025 cut-off date for coal subsidies, and a special clause for Poland.
World’s first zero-emission cement plant takes shape in Norway
Norway is getting closer to building the world’s first carbon-free cement plant, a move that could reverberate across the globe as 197 countries meet for the UN's annual climate conference in Katowice, Poland.
Biofuels and electromobility are key in Portugal’s transport decarbonisation
Portugal will use both electromobility and biofuels to decarbonise its transport sector by 2050, José Mendes, Portuguese First Secretary of State for Mobility - Environment and Energy Transition, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
German anti-coal demonstrations: ‘We’re running out of time’
In the run-up to the UN climate conference, which began in Katowice in Poland on 2 December, many thousands of people demonstrated to support accelerating the phasing out of the coal industry. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Nordics balk at EU plan to limit cross-border electricity trade
A proposal to limit cross-border electricity flows is one of the last sticking points in the EU’s proposed power market reform, as Berlin pursues a 75% limit on interconnector capacity made available for trading, lawmakers have said.
EU’s Cañete warns gas pipelines risk becoming ‘stranded assets’
Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU Commissioner for climate action and energy, had an unpleasant message for the gas industry when he presented the European Commission’s 2050 vision for a “climate neutral” economy earlier this week.
‘Yellow vests’ show limits of consumer acceptance on climate change
As the European Commission unveiled its long-term vision for greenhouse gas reduction on Wednesday (28 November), a yellow cloud hung over the grand pronouncements.
Miguel Arias Cañete: EU’s climate caterpillar looks to seal legacy
"We will leave the European Union with a vision for the future," the commissioner told EURACTIV's media partner Climate Home News as he prepared to fight for net-zero emissions.
Energy companies issue joint call for EU carbon price floor
A group of sixteen European energy companies including France’s EDF, Germany’s E.ON, and Denmark’s Ørsted, have proposed introducing a carbon price floor at European or regional level, as a way to the speed up the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Macron wants France to become carbon neutral by 2050
Emmanuel Macron has presented the main lines of his energy policy. In order to be carbon neutral in 2050, France will accelerate the development of renewable energies, while not giving up nuclear energy. EURACTIV France reports.
Germany heads to COP24 without coal-exit plan
Germany is likely to show up empty-handed to the COP24 summit in Poland in December as the country’s coal exit commission has decided to extend its work beyond the original end-of-2018 deadline. EURACTIV's media partner, Clean Energy Wire, reports.
‘Yellow vests’ spark EU debate about just transition to clean energy
Protests against high fuel prices in France have propelled climate policy to the forefront of the political debate, just days before Poland hosts the UN’s annual conference on climate change, with a focus on the “just transition” to low-carbon energy.
Environmental organisations: German-French climate partnership
Environmental organisations are calling on Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron to coordinate their countries’ climate and energy transitions. EURACTIV Germany’s media partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.