Keres

his in-depth analysis, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, looks at the use of data for the purpose of regulatory assessment/evaluation. The author finds that data is needed to support evidence-based regulation, that information technologies, and in particular AI, can enable a more extensive and beneficial use of data, and that the use of data in ex-post evaluations can improve the regulatory ...

In 2006, Jeffrey Sachs wrote that sustainability had replaced the Cold War as the dominant theme of global politics. He defined the 'geopolitics of sustainability' as a new approach to governance, which recognised the ecological underpinnings of war, terror and corruption, and sought to find solutions to these problems. Since then, sustainability has become a megatrend, intensively discussed in the media, the corporate world, and the expert community. Governments (particularly in the European Union ...

The EU has implemented the world's largest carbon-pricing system, the emissions trading system (ETS). While pricing emissions can encourage industrial decarbonisation, it also risks carbon leakage, whereby EU companies move their production abroad. To date, the EU has mitigated carbon leakage through free allocations to certain industries, but with rising climate ambition and higher carbon prices, the Commission seeks to phase out free allocations. In parallel, a novel carbon border adjustment mechanism ...

As part of the 'Fit for 55' package, the Commission is proposing a revision to the EU's emissions trading system (ETS) as regards carbon dioxide emissions from aviation. The proposal seeks to ensure that the sector contributes to the EU's climate targets through increased auctioning of allowances, with an end to free allowances from 2027, and by applying the linear reduction of aviation allowances. The proposal will also integrate, into the revised ETS, the International Civil Aviation Organization's ...

Many consequences of climate change are already hard to reverse, and extreme weather events will become more frequent in the future. That shows a need to discuss which climate impacts are difficult or impossible to adapt to, and a need to address losses and damages. All regions will be affected by climate change, but the extent of loss and damage will vary between locations. Although the concept of Loss and Damage (L&D) is not new, it is still quite vague and not well defined in climate policy. It ...

The EU's effort-sharing legislation covers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in sectors not included in the EU emissions trading system. A wide range of sources account for these emissions, such as petrol and diesel used for road transport, energy used for heating and cooling in buildings, animal digestion and fertilisers used in agriculture, waste treatment, and small industries. To cut the emissions in these sectors, the EU effort-sharing legislation establishes binding targets and sets up annual ...

According to a recent European Parliamentary Research Service Cost of Non-Europe (CONE) report, ambitious and united European Union (EU) action in climate and energy policy could be very beneficial, bringing gains of up to 5.6 % of gross domestic product (GDP), equal to €1 trillion additional GDP per year in 2050, compared to a continuation of the status quo (see Figure 1). However, failure to arrive at a common approach, in particular by collectively addressing volatile energy prices and systemic ...

Russia’s war on Ukraine has reduced supplies of gas and oil to the European Union and other regions, increasing energy prices and complicating efforts to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Faced with oil and gas shortages, some countries have started to fire up polluting coal power plants which had previously been shut down, or have postponed their planned closure. Burning coal or lignite emits much more carbon dioxide than using oil and gas to produce electricity. Scientists and analysts are urging ...

The workshop explored the different ways to tackle environmental criminality in developing countries. Bringing together a wide range of international experts as well as local representatives from developing countries, the workshop sought to identify existing gaps in policy and legal responses, and generate debates about how the identified gaps can be filled. The first panel focused on the prevention and the fight against environmental crimes in developing countries. In doing so, it drew on lessons ...

To align regulations and policies with the legally binding goals – delivering, by 2030, a 55 % net greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to 1990, and reaching climate neutrality in Europe by 2050 – on 14 July the European Commission presented its first proposals under the 'fit for 55' package. One of these proposals involves amending Regulation (EU) 2018/841 on emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (the LULUCF Regulation). Among the main changes envisaged are to ...