About: Energy Roadmap 2050
European oil majors better prepared for energy transition than US, Chinese counterparts
Oil majors are “lagging” when it comes to preparing for the low-carbon energy transition, according to a new report from financial watchdog CDP, which nonetheless praised BP, Eni, Equinor, Total, Repsol and Shell for taking the industry’s lead.
Norway’s latest CCS revival attempt meets lukewarm EU response
The European Commission has given only cautious backing to a project led by Norway that would see carbon dioxide emissions captured at source from industrial installations and shipped offshore to depleting oil and gas fields where they would be buried more than 1,000 metres underground.
‘Most important years in history’: Major UN report sounds last-minute climate alarm
Warming beyond 1.5C will unleash a frightening set of consequences and only a global transformation, beginning now, will avoid it, according to the latest report from scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). EURACTIV's media partner Climate Home News reports.
More banks join EU-backed pilot scheme for green mortgages
Deutsche Hypothekenbank in Germany and Ecology Building Society in the UK were the latest to join a group of 37 pioneering banks offering an energy efficiency mortgage pilot scheme to homeowners.
No decarbonisation without electrification
Decarbonising Europe’s economy means replacing fossil fuels by renewables wherever possible. And that implies getting much more renewable electricity into heating and transport, writes Giles Dickson.
Danish MEP: ‘Fight continues’ for renewable energy in Europe
The 32% renewable energy objective for 2030 agreed at the EU level in June was a good result, says Jeppe Kofod, but it’s still insufficient to live up to the Paris accord, he told EURACTIV in an interview, setting out the agenda for clean energy battles in the years ahead.
Soil ‘completely underestimated’ in EU climate strategy
While climate change takes a toll on agriculture and land use contributes to warming the planet, soils still find little attention from policymakers in their climate strategies.
EU should aim for net-zero emissions by 2040 to fight global warming
Keeping global temperature rise to 1.5°C is critical - and still possible. But it means the EU should aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, writes Andrea Kohl.
Higher shares of renewables for higher levels of electrification
A deep decarbonisation of the European economy is doable, but it will rely heavily on an increased uptake of electricity – even if the challenges are very different across the individual use sectors, writes Kristian Ruby.
Mayors urge EU to aim for net-zero emissions by 2050
The mayors of ten major European cities –including Paris, London, Milan and Barcelona – have issued a joint call for the EU to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Spain to lead the energy transition in Europe?
The creation of the new ministry for ecological transition in Spain brings fresh air not only at the national level but also at the EU level as Spain can give a push in the fight against climate change, writes Ana Barreira.
14 European countries call for stronger EU climate action
A group of European countries known as the “Green Growth Group” have called on the European Commission to update the EU’s pledge at the United Nation’s next annual climate meeting in December this year, and chart a pathway consistent with a 1.5°C global warming scenario by 2050.
Claude Turmes MEP: A net-zero emissions target by 2050 will be our red line
Any country resisting an EU-wide objective to reduce emissions to net-zero by mid-century is essentially “in the same camp as Mr. Trump” when it comes to climate change, says Claude Turmes, the lead European Parliament negotiator on the Energy Union governance proposal.
German think-tank: EU’s 32% renewable energy target ’still unambitious’
The 32% renewable energy target agreed by EU negotiators last week is still “much lower” than what would be needed to reach the Paris goals on climate change, argue experts at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.
The EU needs to walk the talk on the Paris Climate Agreement
The EU’s Energy Union Governance Regulation is not an EU-level invention or a bureaucratic imposition from Brussels. Instead, it is to a large extent an attempt to translate what several of the EU’s individual member states are already doing on climate and energy policy, writes Lola Vallejo.
How do we make a net-zero carbon economy the new normal?
As the EU Talanoa Dialogue and the Petersburg Dialogue kicks off a busy month for EU climate action, Eliot Whittington explains why now is the time for the EU to show its colours on legislation currently under consideration and make a net-zero carbon economy the new normal.
What the UN deal on shipping emissions means
Last week’s difficult deal on shipping emissions at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) brought some good news. The not-so-good news is that there is far too little acceptance of the need for immediate action, writes Bill Hemmings.
Brussels hails UN deal to halve shipping emissions by 2050
Over 170 countries reached agreement on Friday (13 April) to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping by “at least” 50% on 2008 levels by 2050, ending years of slow progress.
New climate strategy will set out a pathway to meet higher targets
Last week, EU leaders sent a clear message to the European Commission to ramp up its work to implement the Paris Agreement and accelerate the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels, writes Wendel Trio.
Breaking the glass ceiling of EU climate policy
The request from EU leaders to see an update of the European Commission's 2050 low-carbon roadmap mandates a higher level of ambition from Europe on meeting climate goals also in 2030, writes Brook Riley.
EU leaders take Brussels to task over 2050 low-carbon roadmap
EU leaders have urged the European Commission to come forward with a 2050 climate strategy “by the first quarter of 2019”, ending speculation over the timing of the proposal.
Parliament backs ‘net-zero’ carbon emissions by 2050
Green lawmakers have hailed a “great victory for the climate” as a proposal to bring down to zero the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted in the atmosphere by 2050 received unexpected backing from the European Parliament yesterday (17 January).
Think tank: Coal crisis, not climate policy, is forcing Polish energy overhaul
The unfolding crisis in the coal sector is leaving Poland with a looming power generation gap which is forcing decision-makers to reconsider the country’s energy mix. But politicians have until now delayed hard decisions and a transparent debate about it, says Joanna Maćkowiak Pandera.