About: Paris Agreement
Ambassadors pave the way for EU-US trade talks, despite French opposition
Europe is set to start trade talks with the US after ambassadors gave their green light on Thursday (11 April) to a proposed mandate for the European Commission to conduct the negotiations on behalf of the 28 EU member countries.
Energy Union ‘completed’, as Commission’s final stocktake debuts
EU officials are satisfied with how the bloc’s internal energy market has taken shape over the last five years, but will acknowledge in a final stocktake due later on Tuesday (9 April) that energy efficiency and renewables targets still need work.
A new European agenda for climate resilience
As the 2019 EU elections loom and a new European Commission takes office, climate action can become a key driver of a reformed EU project for more solidarity, protection and innovation, writes Luca Bergamaschi.
EU on track for 50% emission cuts by 2030, study says
While Germany and Eastern European countries continue to oppose raising the EU’s 40% emission reduction target for 2030, a new analysis insists the bloc will actually manage at least 50% cuts under a business-as-usual scenario taking into account the latest coal phase-out pledges.
Some order in the multiple definitions of refrigeration
People are often confused by the multiple definitions of refrigeration, published in different sources, which are mutually overlapping but never identical. Some order was recently achieved and it is also needed at EU level, writes Kostadin Fikiin.
Investors put airline emissions on the radar, deride short-term thinking
Some of the world’s leading airlines do not have emission-cutting plans than extend beyond 2020, according to new research backed by investors worth trillions of dollars.
Belgium opens way toward fair tax on aviation pollution
Belgium’s proposal for Europe to tax aviation is most welcome and could address the current measures that are inadequate to address climbing emissions, writes Bill Hemmings.
European carbon tax idea returns to election debate in France
The French green think-tank La Fabrique Ecologique has published eight environmental proposals to contribute to the European election debate. EURACTIV France’s media partner the Journal de l’environnement reports.
Four things the EU should do to strengthen climate action before this mandate ends
EU institutions still have time for a series of concrete actions to strengthen climate policy before their mandate ends and get their successors off to a flying start, write Sanjeev Kumar and Edward Robinson.
Europe: An industrial society of the future
The responsibility for pursuing long-term sustainable goals falls upon those in the wider community who can stake a claim in the climate debate. One such player is Europe’s tech industry, who made their intentions clear during last week’s Industy Day’s conference in Brussels.
Germany’s coal phase out plans must accelerate to meet Paris goals
Germany needs to phase out coal-fired power by 2030 in order to maximise the economic and social benefits of the zero-carbon transition, and deliver its commitment as part of the Paris Agreement, writes Nigel Topping.
Cañete: ‘No way around it’, climate neutral EU is needed
EU climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete is in no doubt that the EU has to achieve ‘climate neutrality’ by 2050 and wants to use his final months in the job to push the bloc towards Paris Agreement-compliance.
MEPs in dust-up over EU’s climate plan
European lawmakers are locked in a dispute over a landmark climate plan that is meant to drag the EU into compliance with the Paris Agreement, as parliamentary committees tussle over who should take the lead.
In Brussels, students skip school for mass global warming protest
Thousands of Belgian school children skipped classes on Thursday (24 January) to flood Brussels in an unprecedented protest against global warming and pollution, vowing to miss school once a week until the government takes action.
Post-COP24 stocktake praises Katowice rulebook, ‘Cañete’s baby’
In December, international negotiators managed to agree the set of rules needed to “bring the Paris Agreement to life”. But unfinished business and a tight schedule mean that the job of honouring the landmark deal is far from done.
After the COP: Where next for climate action?
December's COP24 climate summit in Katowice was billed as a last chance to actually implement the Paris Agreement. Now that the dust has settled, did negotiators achieve their objectives? And where does the international effort go from here?
Seven EU nations miss climate and energy plan deadline
Seven EU member states have missed an end-of-2018 deadline to submit draft energy and climate plans to the European Commission, which are essential to the bloc’s overall targets for 2030, as well as commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
Truck emissions rules get green light from EU capitals, tough talks loom
EU environment ministers agreed on heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emission rules on Thursday (20 December), teeing up difficult talks with the European Parliament in January.
Three ways companies and cities are taking the lead on climate change
As the COP24 drew to a close last weekend, it was hard not be concerned by the political rifts the process has revealed, notably regarding the IPCC’s 1.5C report. But in the real economy there are clear reasons for optimism, writes Nicolette Bartlett.
France overlooks climate in school curricula
Climate is almost totally absent from future French school curricula, according to paleoclimatologist Valérie Masson-Delmotte. It is a staggering political and societal choice that runs counter to the Paris Agreement. EURACTIV France’s media partner the Journal de l’environnement reports.
EU agrees on 37.5% CO2 reduction for cars by 2030
EU negotiators on Monday evening (17 December) agreed on CO2 emission rules for cars and vans, as the Austrian presidency of the EU defied expectations and brokered a compromise.
Nations agree on Paris Agreement rulebook, fail on climate ambition
Three years and three days after the Paris Agreement was adopted, the 197 signatory countries gathered in Katowice, Poland, agreed Saturday (15 December) on a rulebook for its implementation but failed to raise their ambition to keep global warming "well below 2°C".
Climate change is a problem of politics, not science
The scientific, economic and social arguments for aggressive action on climate change are powerful. Our political leaders are now at a fork in the road and our children and grandchildren are watching, write Valérie Masson-Delmotte and Jiang Kejun.