Aviation emissions have increased significantly in the EU, despite intra-EEA flights being included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) since 2012. The revision proposes several changes such as the end of free allocation and a stronger decline of the ETS cap. CORSIA is an international mechanism to address aviation emissions, but has several flaws that threaten to severely diminish its effectiveness.
The current ETD is based on volume of fuels, rather than their energy content or impact on the environment. By default this favours fossil fuels. Instead, the revised ETD is based on the content of energy products.The revised ETD expands its regulatory scope to include aviation, shipping and fishing.The new proposal taxes polluting fuels more than cleaner fuels.
In July 2021, the European Commission presented the FuelEU maritime initiative within its Fit for 55 package measures aiming to address maritime transport emissions by addressing market barriers that hamper their use and uncertainty about which technical options are market-ready. Maritime transport is critical to the European Union’s (EU) economy but the EU estimates that maritime carbon emissions account for almost 4% of total EU emissions (and for 11% of EU transport emissions)Maritime stakeholders expressed concerns that the regulation puts responsibility on shipping companies (not on the fuel producers); that the efficiency standard is not defined at the fleet level; and that they did not want any obligation on the choice of fuel and technology.
The ReFuel EU Aviation proposal offers targets for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and synthetic aviation fuels from 2025 to 2050 The policy proposal safeguards competitiveness in the air transport industry while ensuring that CO2 emissions linked to fuel in the aviation sector may be reduced by circa 60-61% by 2050 compared to the baseline year The emergence of SAF on the market would lead to a dramatic decline in the reliance of aviation on fossil jet fuel, leading to a 65% reduction of the latter by 2050
As the climate emergency becomes increasingly acute, the European Union aims to become the first carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The ecological transition, however, is not cost-free and comes with several challenges that need to be addressed in order to ensure the social and economic welfare of the Union’s citizens.This article will look at the Social Climate Fund, an initiative proposed by the EU Commission whose main goal is to alleviate the potential costs that the implementation of the new ETS could bring to low-income and vulnerable households [1].
The revised proposal makes significant progress in terms of expanding the scope of the Directive. RED is responsible for driving unsustainable demand for biomass as a feedstock for biofuels.
Points of discussion in the CBAM debate include emission scope, LDCs, export rebates and explicit carbon pricing. Iron and steel products dominate the amount of imported goods covered by CBAM. Most affected countries include Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
Improving energy efficiency is key to decreasing our impact on climate change. The new proposal raises the EU energy efficiency target and makes it binding. The Covid crisis helped decrease energy consumption and reach targets although these results are tainted by unique (we hope) circumstances.
To reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union (‘EU’) enacted a comprehensive package of measures. Among them, of particular relevance is the Renewable Energy Directive (‘RED II’) which lays down the legal framework for the deployment of renewable energy sources or ‘renewable energy’ across all sectors of the EU’s economy [1]. This article provides an overview of the Directive’s main provisions and its recently proposed amendment in the context of the ‘Fit for 55 Package’ proposal.
Companies buy certificates that they have to surrender for their imported emissions for certain goods. Left-over certificates can be resold to the Member States, but not traded, and can only be held onto for a limited time. During a transitional period, companies will only have to report, but not surrender, certificates for their imported emissions CBAM is a complex system and several points of discussion remain