Natural refrigerants like propane are the way forward to replace climate-warming fluorinated gases in heat pumps, Green EU lawmaker Bas Eickhout argues in an interview with EURACTIV.
Moving parts of the building sector under a separate carbon trading scheme, like the European Commission has proposed, "is a right first step" to address the complexity of the heating sector, which is spread across millions of buildings, diverging climates …
The gas industry is committed to ensuring that by 2050, 100% of gas is renewable or decarbonised, but to achieve that, it will have to diversify, Patrick Corbin, president of the French Gas Association (AFG) said in an interview with EURACTIV France.
Sustainable forest management is key to keeping Europe's forests healthy and must be supported by EU legislation in order to help meet the bloc's 2030 climate goals, according to Finnish MEP, Petri Sarvamaa.
Satellites can help track things like extreme weather, forest stocks and methane emissions, but more and cheaper "near real-time data" is needed for next generation applications to emerge, say Miguel Bello and Ricardo Conde.
As negotiations on the EU's proposed climate law enter the home straight, Pascal Canfin highlights the European Parliament's red lines in talks with EU member states.
The European Parliament will vote Tuesday (6 October) on the EU’s proposed Climate Law, which seeks to put Europe on track to reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050. “I expect the vote to be very tight,” says lawmaker Pascal Canfin.
The European Commission must publish its impact assessment on the EU's 2030 climate target in June – not in September like is currently mentioned in the draft Climate Law, MEP Pascal Canfin told EURACTIV in an interview.
As the European Commission prepares its proposal for a landmark EU Climate Law, Eurelectric boss Kristian Ruby urges policymakers to keep it simple and focus on the long-term.
If Europe goes climate neutral, it will consume more flat glass, predicts Christian Quenett. And the benefits could be huge: simply doubling the replacement rate of windows, in line with the European Green Deal, would achieve 20% of the EU’s energy efficiency targets for 2030, he says.
With Germany’s dwindling leadership on climate, Britain’s departure from the European Union could have “potentially huge” consequences for climate policy, says Sandrine Dixson-Declève.
The MEP chairing the European Parliament’s environment committee has called on the Assembly to declare climate emergency at the next plenary session in November. "It would be important to do it at that time," he told EURACTIV in a wide-ranging interview.
The energy transition will hit the poor hardest unless it's balanced by a shift in taxation, says Christian Egenhofer. The EU needs to acknowledge this and get started by lowering taxes on electricity to achieve the EU’s carbon reduction goals at least cost, he argues.
Renewable energy will rewrite the geopolitical map, according to the man tasked with taking clean energy global. Adnan Z. Amin also told EURACTIV that any politicians not worried by the “truly frightening” risks of climate change are not in the right job.
The European Union needs to revise its 2030 CO2 reduction target from 40% to 55% if it wants to meet the 1.5°C global warming objective of the Paris Agreement, says Joyce Msuya.
The European Union needs to “significantly improve its policy package” for 2030 in order to align itself with the emission trajectories of the Paris Agreement, according to renowned Belgian climate scientist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele.
The 32% renewable energy target agreed by EU negotiators last week is still “much lower” than what would be needed to reach the Paris goals on climate change, argue experts at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.
Intermittent renewable electricity will need backup for at least the next 20 or 30 years, says Irish MEP Seán Kelly. As the least dirty among fossil fuels, natural gas is probably the most cost-effective and “preferred option,” he argues.
The unfolding crisis in the coal sector is leaving Poland with a looming power generation gap which is forcing decision-makers to reconsider the country’s energy mix. But politicians have until now delayed hard decisions and a transparent debate about it, says Joanna Maćkowiak Pandera.
The city of Oslo surprised observers last year by announcing plans to introduce a “carbon budget” with the objective of halving its global warming emissions by 2020 and becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The city’s Mayor, Raymond Johansen, told EURACTIV.com how he intends to achieve this ambitious objective.
The energy transition requires deep CO2 emissions cuts of 80-95% across the economy by 2050, says Kristian Ruby. “And the current proposal won’t get us there,” he told EURACTIV.com as three-way talks to reform the EU Emissions Trading Scheme get underway.
Renovating Europe's building stock isn't just critical for meeting EU climate and energy savings targets – it will dramatically improve living conditions and health while boosting the overall economy, according to the three MEPs leading the European Parliament's work on the Energy performance of buildings directive.
Pension funds are looking to invest money and interest rates are low, the lead MEP on the EU’s building energy performance bill has said. Unlocking that capital will boost Europe’s low renovation rates, increase energy efficiency and cut household bills, Bendt Bendtsen told EURACTIV.com.
EXCLUSIVE/ The European Union’s carbon market is like a broken-down car without any fuel, the Scottish MEP steering the debate on reforms of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) has told EURACTIV.
