The Polish government is on the hunt for securing yet another stream of subsidies to its coal industry, two weeks after EU leaders agreed on an enhanced climate target by 2030. But the European Commission can stop this, write Elif Gündüzyeli and Joanna Flisowska.
Key elements of the EU’s foreign policy funding will be finalised during ‘trilogue’ talks this week. Raising the climate spending target there could make a vital difference to supporting partner countries to deliver green recovery plans, writes Rachel Simon.
Leaders should take advantage of the recovery fund to bring the climate goals of their citizens to fruition and use experience from the past to shape a green future, write NGO members across Central and Eastern Europe countries.
Two recent examples of the Dutch and German coal exit show how fossil fuel firms are using an outdated international investment treaty, the Energy Charter Treaty, to attack climate policies. The treaty provides fossil fuel companies with a strong tool to impede the clean energy transition. It is time to disarm them, writes Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe.
Non-governmental organisations led by Climate Action Network Europe and European Environmental Bureau are putting forward an energy scenario which maps out a path to a climate neutral Europe by 2040. This collective work shows that more ambitious targets needed to implement the Paris Agreement are possible, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% by 2030 and ensuring 100% renewable energy supply by 2040.
The COVID-19 crisis has shed light on the vulnerability of our healthcare and global economic systems, but it has also, paradoxically, opened our eyes to the many advantages of a low-carbon lifestyle, writes Wendel Trio.
While there is strong claimed support for a ‘green’ recovery from the European Commission, the European Parliament and key member states like Germany, the devil is in the detail, write Doreen Fedrigo and Camille Maury.
The time is right for the efforts by the EU, pursued under the Energy Community Treaty, which works to integrate the energy markets of the Union and its neighbours, and by the Western Balkan countries to pull together, not apart. The EU accession process with the Western Balkans requires more climate action now. Our shared resilience in the face of one of humanity’s most pressing crises depends on it,
writes Viktor Berishaj, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator for Southeast Europe, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
Today’s dramatic pandemic can only be dealt with through increased solidarity, aiming to remove the immediate threats people are facing and to build fairer societies that are more resilient to future shocks, writes Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe.
The EU Industrial Strategy, to be presented by the European Commission this week, will be a litmus test on the willingness of the EU executive to land the European Green Deal in the real world, writes Sophie Rigaudie.