The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) aims to reduce carbon emissions, put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon intensive goods imported into the EU, and encourage cleaner industrial production through a methodology for calculating embedded emissions according to the Paris Agreement and the EU Fit for 55 package. It was announced this week that more than 80 % of EU companies subject to CBAM will be exempted under reforms planned by the European Commission. Tax commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the Financial Times (behind a paywall): “Less than 20 per cent of the companies in scope are responsible for more than 95 per cent of the emissions in the products . . . It doesn’t do anything to [diminish] the importance of the climate objectives, but it is a way to make life much easier for a wide range of companies across the continent.” The move would free up to 180,000 of the 200,000 businesses affected from complying.
In a separate article on the Financial Times (behind a paywall), Marco Rubio, the new US Secretary of State, was quoted on X saying that he will not attend the upcoming G20 meeting of foreign ministers: “South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] and climate change.” Songezo Zibi, a South African opposition MP responded: “This is not a South African event. It’s a global event . . .The Trump administration is fundamentally hell-bent on isolating the United States, weakening its role in international institutions and destroying its soft power.” At this point it is not certain whether the US will pull out of the G20 Summit to be in Johannesburg in November. What does this mean for other global institutions?
EiD readers may want to look at a new academic report out this week entitled “Demand-side strategies enable rapid and deep cuts in buildings and transport emissions to 2050.” EiD hopes that one of you will review it for us.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful ideas to help you along:
- Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
- Much Better Adventures provides us with 10 of the best winter walks in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.
- Travelling in 2025? Here’s how to become a ‘regenerative’ tourist
- Visit Wels, Austria in early March and attend World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) (see post).
Emo Phillips (b. 1956), an American stand-up comedian and actor, gives us something to smile about this week: “I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA report on progress towards greater sustainability of Europe’s maritime sector
- Blog by Yamina Saheb – Sufficiency: where philosophy meets science
- Trump’s decision to turn his back on climate change policy is a direct challenge to his own economic agenda
- New research shows traditional laboratory testing for EV batteries leads to faster degradation, while real-world use gives substantially more battery life
- How climate change could upend the American dream
- Jeff Bezos’s $10bn Earth Fund cuts ties with Science Based Targets initiative
- Blog by Stefania Moruzzi: Defining sustainability in manufacturing
- America’s energy transition: a massive new lithium refinery taking shape in “red state” that promotes the oil industry
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
If you know anyone who would like to receive this weekly notice, please have them contact EiD at energyindemand@gmail.com. It is not available on the WordPress website.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 