The European Parliament Rejects The Back-Loading Proposal

On 16 April, the European Parliament voted against the European Commission’s proposal, known as “back-loading”, aimed to reverse the falling price of carbon that has resulted from a surplus of permits in the ETS market. The vote was far from being unanimous: out of 712 Members of the European Parliament present, 334 supported the rejection the proposal, whereas 315 voted against the rejection and 63 abstained. The carbon market fell by the highest rate ever following the vote, to a record low price of 2.63 euro.

The Future Climate And Energy Package 2030

On 27 March 2013, the European Commission (EC) launched a series of papers and consultations aimed at developing the 2030 framework for EU climate change and energy policy: the long awaited Green Paper on a 2030 framework for climate and energy policies, as well as a progress report on renewables and a consultative communication on the future of carbon capture and storage. The documents also aim to prepare the ground for the 2015 negotiations on an international agreement on climate change, which should be agreed at COP21 in France.

The Council Adopted The Energy Infrastructure Regulation

The Council adopted on 21 March 2013 the regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure.

MFF: European Parliament Rejects Current Deal

On 13 March, the European Parliament firmly rejected in its current form the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal reached by EU leaders on 8 February. For the first time in history, the EU budget is smaller than its previous version.

ETN Has Submitted Additional Comments To The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)

In a joint effort among members, ETN has submitted additional comments to the LCP BREF Review Team of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (EC) regarding the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). For more information and to view the comments, please click here.

Latest Developments On The EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS)

On 19 February, the European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) voted in favour of the European Commission’s proposal to postpone the auctioning in the framework of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) of 900 million emission allowances (backloading) for the 2013-2020 period (third ETS trading period).

CCS Is A Necessity For A World Hooked On Fossil Fuels

Speaking at the 11th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies in Kyoto, Japan, Juho Lipponen, head of the IEA Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Unit stressed that for the IEA “carbon capture and storage is not a substitute, but a necessary addition to other low-carbon energy technologies and energy efficiency improvements.” He added, “fossil-fuel CCS is particularly important in a world that currently shows absolutely no sign of scaling down its fossil fuel consumption”.

COP18 Climate Change Conference Conclusions: New Commitment Period Under The Kyoto Protocol

The COP18 Climate Change Conference took place from 26 November to 7 December 2012 in Doha, Qatar. One of the key outcomes during the conference, agreed by the EU, Australia, Norway and several others, was the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to begin in January 2013 until 2020. This new commitment is among the main successes of the Conference. However, lot of work still need to be done with major states such as the US, Japan, Russia and Canada outside of the scope of the agreement. The Kyoto Protocol is the only existing and binding agreement which developed countries commit to cutting greenhouse gases

The State Of The European Carbon Market In 2012

The European Commission published on November 14, 2012 a Report The state of the European carbon market in 2012, which aims to analyze the functioning of the carbon market and to consider whether or not further appropriate structural measures to strengthen the Emissions Trading System in phase 3 is needed.

ETN Is Looking For New Colleagues!

The ETN office currently has 2 job vacancies: