Hopes that green capital markets could quickly close Europe’s green investment gap are overblown

The Jacques Delors Centre recently published a policy brief by Sebastian Mack. He argues that with key reforms of the Capital Markets Union stalled, the European Green Deal will rely mainly on bank lending. EU policymakers should acknowledge this and shift the focus to greening banks. The Jacques Delors Centre, founded by Jacques Delors in … Continue reading Hopes that green capital markets could quickly close Europe’s green investment gap are overblown →

The world needs a “business mindset” to tackle the climate crisis, the president of the next UN climate summit has said

Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President told Fiona Harvey that he aims to use UN talks to set out how private sector can limit greenhouse gas emissions. Ms. Harvey explains his views in an article on the Guardian website. Cop28 president: world needs business mindset to tackle climate crisis The world needs a “business mindset” … Continue reading The world needs a “business mindset” to tackle the climate crisis, the president of the next UN climate summit has said →

Britain’s energy transition: looking at its building stock, the challenges are daunting to meet the net-zero target

Thursday, March 30th, the UK government announced its net-zero strategy and you can get the main elements of it here in an article on the Guardian website. Jillian Ambrose wrote a very important background article on Monday on the Guardian website, focusing on the negligible progress made in improving the energy efficiency of its building … Continue reading Britain’s energy transition: looking at its building stock, the challenges are daunting to meet the net-zero target →

European Council and Parliament reach provisional deal on renewable energy directive

The Council and the Parliament negotiators this week reached a provisional political agreement to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%. Each member state will contribute to this common target. This provisional political agreement will now … Continue reading European Council and Parliament reach provisional deal on renewable energy directive →

Member states should take more responsibility for meeting the targets of the EU buildings directive

Aneta Zachová writes on the EURACTIV website about the views of energy-saving construction expert Petr Holub that the onus for meeting targets from the EPBD should be on member states and not individual owners. Do you have any views on this? Czech expert: EU Building Directive targets should be met by states, not owners … Continue reading Member states should take more responsibility for meeting the targets of the EU buildings directive →

What the new head of the World Bank needs to cope with

Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University, writes on The Conversation website about what the next head of the World Bank needs to do to address our climate and debit crises. It should be noted that Ajay Banga is the only candidate for World Bank president. Can this former CEO fix the … Continue reading What the new head of the World Bank needs to cope with →

“We are not fully in agreement yet” – Germany facing a growing backlash inside the EU over its U-turn on a law to phase out the combustion engine in new cars by 2035

The row is a further signal of tensions over the green deal landmark proposals to tackle climate crisis. In an article on the Guardian website, Jennifer Rankin and Philip Oltermann discuss what happened in this week’s meetings in Brussels. Germany faces EU backlash over U-turn on phasing out combustion engine Germany is facing a … Continue reading “We are not fully in agreement yet” – Germany facing a growing backlash inside the EU over its U-turn on a law to phase out the combustion engine in new cars by 2035 →

The EU’s plans to reduce GHG emissions are still not in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement

Science says it loud and clear that the EU’s plans to reduce emissions are not in line with the Paris Agreement. The question is whether EU member states will set things right and shoot beyond the minimum ambition with their National Climate and Energy Plans, write Brigitta Bozsó and Klaus Röhrig, policy experts at Climate … Continue reading The EU’s plans to reduce GHG emissions are still not in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement →

The EU Net Zero Industry Act must not be protectionist

How the EU might respond to clean teach subsidies, in the form of a leaked draft law entitled the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), is deeply worrisome. Niclas Poitiers, André Sapir, Simone Tagliapietra, Reinhilde Veugelers and Jeromin Zettelmeyer explain their views in an article on the Breugel website. Bruegel is the European think tank that … Continue reading The EU Net Zero Industry Act must not be protectionist →

The challenge for making the EU Green Deal industrial plan as effective as possible

In the race to avoid climate breakdown, talk of a subsidy race with the United States is misplaced. EU leaders would be better off focusing on making the Green Deal Industrial Plan as effective as possible to ensure win-wins, write Jakob Hafele and Jonathan Barth, co-founders of the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies, in an … Continue reading The challenge for making the EU Green Deal industrial plan as effective as possible →