The climate crisis and energy price explosion have made it clear: the EU cannot afford its dependency on fossil fuels anymore. How to deal with these enormous challenges? Our 100% Renewable Action Plan for the next European Commission describes what needs to happen after the 2024 European elections to harvest the benefits of renewables.
It is very clear that if the EU wants to make a fair contribution to the effort to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C, it will need to follow the recommendation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and aim for achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2040 rather than by 2050. This means the new EU 2040 target should become a net-zero target. It makes sense for the EU to set a very ambitious 2035 target of around 95% net GHG emission reductions at the same time.
This study shows that climate change requires central bank intervention and that – in anticipation of climate risks – the ECB can and should double down on its pledges to green central bank activities. Against this background, the report identifies numerous concrete policy options, from enhancing green tilting approaches in asset purchasing programmes to offering favourable refinancing terms to banks engaged in green lending.
The project CAP Strategic Plans co-organised by ARC2020 with the Good Food Good Farming network is now completing its fourth year since its launch in 2020. 2023 can be seen as the end of a policy reform cycle and beginning of a new one for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 (WNISR2023) provides a comprehensive overview of nuclear power plant data, including information on age, operation, production, and construction of reactors. It also includes a special focus chapter assessing Nuclear Economics and Finance.
A edição portuguesa do Atlas Europeu da Mobilidade 2021 da Fundação Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, em cooperação com a European Green Foundation, analisa os principais factos e números sobre transportes e mobilidade na Europa, contribuindo para os esforços em prol de uma mobilidade sustentável e justa. Os seus capítulos são dedicados a diferentes dimensões e áreas políticas relacionadas com os transportes e a mobilidade: caminhos-de-ferro, ciclismo, digitalização, clima, Covid-19 e muito mais.
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) have convened a group of over 20 experts from academia, industry, civil society and policy makers to discuss and identify several important policy gaps in the EU’s approach to renewable energy, which should be addressed to ensure that the EU’s new climate and industry agenda becomes as effective and globally equitable as it can be.
The European Commission has proposed a reform in the electricity market design. Both the technical implementation of the reform and the notion that marginal pricing is to blame are contested, and have significant implications with regard to investments in renewable energy sources (RES). This factsheet summarizes the key changes proposed in the reform, whilst focusing on their effects regarding the integration of RES into the European energy system and the flexibility potential required to achieve this integration.
To meet the EU climate targets, policymakers need to support both the rapid deployment and manufacturing of cleantech, while also strengthening the EU’s research and innovation ecosystem. Next to this, they need to consider a range of questions. How will their policy response deliver quality jobs for citizens? How will it bolster the EU’s resilience vis-à-vis Russia or China? And finally, how will it support the EU’s economic competitiveness in an era when large economies have entered a cleantech race? This factsheet reviews existing EU funding initiatives to accomplish this endeavour.
The Peatland Atlas 2023 highlights the consequences of the destruction of these unique habitats, but also the potential of wet peatlands for mitigating climate change.
