Environment ministers pour cold water on ‘hot air’ proposal

EurActiv.com, October 29, 2012

EU environment ministers abandoned plans on Friday (26 October) to limit excess supply of Kyoto-era carbon credits on the world’s markets after seven eastern European states backed Poland’s opposition to the measure.

The Environment Council had been intended to forge a common EU position on Assigned Amount Unit carbon credits (AAUs) – disparagingly dubbed ‘hot air’ credits – before the UN climate summit in Doha next month.

But “the fact that there hasn’t been agreement within the EU block will only make expectations for the Doha conference on the carry-over of AAUs very low,” said Jeff Swartz, the policy director for the International Emissions Trading Association. Read more...

Australian Carbon Trading Scheme Commences

ENN, October 16, 2012

Australian carbon trading took another step forward last month when the first carbon credits under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme were issued. The national carbon trading program has been in the works for six years, politically supported by a Labor-Green coalition government; the first three to five years of the program will see a government-fixed price for carbon, to transition to a market-derived price later. Read more...

European Union's total greenhouse emissions down 2.5 % in 2011

EEA, September 13, 2012

Greenhouse gas emissions from the European Union (EU) fell by 2.5 %, despite higher coal consumption and a growing gross domestic product (GDP), according to new estimates from the European Environment Agency (EEA). Read more...

Australia to join EU's emissions trading system

EurActiv., August 29, 2012

Australia will scrap its planned floor price for carbon emissions and will link directly with the European Union's emissions trading system by 2018, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said today (28 August).

Australia, one of the world's highest per capita emitters of pollutants blamed for causing climate change, imposed a fixed €19.08 per tonne carbon tax on around 300 of its biggest polluting companies in July, covering around 60% of emissions.

The €12.45 floor price was due to underpin the scheme when it moved to a floating emissions trading scheme in July 2015. Read more...

Research Reveals the True Cost of a Burger

ScienceDaily, Febreuary 14, 2012

The UK could considerably reduce its carbon footprint if more of us switched to a vegetarian diet, according to new research by Lancaster University.
The report 'Relative greenhouse gas impacts of realistic dietary choices' published in the journal Energy Policy says that if everyone in the UK swapped their current eating habits for a vegetarian or vegan diet, our greenhouse gas emissions savings would be the equivalent of a 50 per cent reduction in exhaust pipe emissions from the entire UK passenger car fleet or 40m tonnes. Read more...

European Carbon Regulation for Airlines Takes Off

ENN, January 04, 2012

2012 started with some good news. On Sunday, the European Union began charging all airlines flying into and out of Europe for their carbon emissions. Covering a third of all global flights, this new scheme is one of the widest-reaching measures adopted lately by any country or regional bloc to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Given all the hurdles and protest it faced, the fact that this scheme actually began is not just an incredible accomplishment for the EU, but also a bit of a miracle. The new scheme will make all airlines flying to, from or within the EU liable for their CO2 emissions. They will receive tradable carbon allowances, covering a certain amount of CO2 emitted each year, based on historic data. Carriers that exceed their limit will be able to buy allowances from other carriers that have emitted less than allowed. The EU believes this cap and trade scheme is the fairest way to cope with aviation’s contribution to global warming and incentivize airlines to reduce their footprint, which represents about 3 percent of global CO2 emissions. Read more...

Maritime countries agree first ever shipping emissions regulation

The Guardian, July 18, 2011


Countries have taken a first step towards reducing climate emissions from shipping with a global agreement to reduce energy use in new vessels from 2013 onwards. The belated action on Friday by 55 of the world's biggest sea-faring nations meeting at UN's international maritime organisation in London will force all ships over 400 tonnes built after 2013 to improve their efficiency by 10%, rising to 20% between 2020 and 2024 and 30% for ships delivered after 2024. The first ever regulation of emissions in shipping is expected to lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions of 45-50m tonnes a year by 2020. Read more...

Recession and renewables cut greenhouse emissions in 2009

EEA, May 31, 2011

Greenhouse gas emissions decreased very sharply in 2009, by 7.1 % in the EU-27 and 6.9 % in the EU-15. These most recent results, compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA), confirm estimates made by the EEA last year. This decrease was largely the result of the economic recession of 2009, but also sustained strong growth in renewable energy.Read more...

Brussels wants no oil-fuelled cars in cities by 2050

EurActiv.com, March 23, 2011


The European Commission plans to step up its battle against oil- and gas-fuelled cars, and is drawing up strict targets to halve their urban usage by 2030 and "phase them out by 2050," according to an EU road map on transport to be published on Monday (28 March) and seen by EurActiv. These objectives will play an instrumental role in achieving the more comprehensive target of cutting CO2 emissions from transport by 60% by 2050. Currently, a quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.
The Commission is therefore proposing an ambitious plan which eyes significant reductions of emissions especially in road transport, while it intends to increase rail traffic, on the grounds that is by far cleaner and more environment-friendly.  Read more...

Πρωταθλήτρια της Ε.Ε. η ΔΕΗ στην εκπομπή διοξειδίου του άνθρακα

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 20 Νοεμβρίου 2009

Την πιο βρώμικη κιλοβατώρα της Ε.Ε.- όσον αφορά τις εκπομπές διοξειδίου του άνθρακα- παράγει η ΔΕΗ σύμφωνα με πρόσφατη έκθεση διεθνούς οικονομικού οίκου. Όπως προκύπτει από τα στοιχεία της ΡricewaterhouseCoopers, που δημοσιεύθηκαν στις 17 Νοεμβρίου, για την παραγωγή κάθε κιλοβατώρας ηλεκτρικού ρεύματος από τη ΔΕΗ το 2008 εκπέμφθηκαν στο περιβάλλον κατά μέσο όρο 1.006 γραμμάρια διοξειδίου του άνθρακα- πρόκειται για το «μαύρο» ρεκόρ ποσοτήτων ανάμεσα στις 20 μεγαλύτερες ευρωπαϊκές επιχειρήσεις ηλεκτρισμού που μπήκαν στο μικροσκόπιο του διεθνούς οίκου. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Carbon tariffs falling out of favour as trade war looms

EurActiv.com, July 26, 2009

A majority of European countries are reluctant to pick up on current debates in France and the United States about carbon tariffs designed to fend off competition from countries which have not committed to reducing emissions, for fear of triggering a green trade war.
So far, France has been the only member state to openly rally for the introduction of border measures to secure the competitiveness of European industry against emerging economies. It put the measure on the table in 2008 when the EU was immersed in discussions on a revision of its emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). Read more...

U.S. power plant emissions fall

ENN, July 8, 2009

U.S. power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide dropped sharply in the first half of the year as the electricity industry prepared for tighter regulation in 2010, Genscape said Monday.
Sulfur dioxide emissions were down 24 percent compared to the first half of 2008, much more than would be expected due to the recession and lower electricity demand, the power industry data provider said in its quarterly review of energy trends. Read more...

EU greenhouse gas emissions fall for third consecutive year

EEA, May 29, 2009

European Union emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases (GHG) declined for the third consecutive year in 2007, according to the EU's GHG inventory report compiled by the European Environment Agency. The EU-27's overall domestic emissions were 9.3 % below 1990 levels, which equalled a drop of 1.2 % or 59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent compared to 2006. The EU-15 now stands 5 % below its Kyoto Protocol base year levels. Read more...

EU wants "zero-waste, zero-emission" goal for ships

ENN, January 21, 2009

ENDS Europe Daily, 21 January 2009 - The European commission has issued a plan to increase the competitiveness of the EU maritime sector and improve its environmental performance by 2018. The plan is also intended to meet objectives in other sectors such as energy and road transport.
The commission calls for an ambitious long-term "zero-waste, zero-emission" goal for the maritime sector. It reaffirmed its intention to table draft legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions from ships if world governments failed to agree global reductions this year. Read more...

EU carbon trading system brings windfalls for some, with little benefit to climate

International Herald Tribune, December 09, 2008

BRUSSELS: The European Union started with the most high-minded of ecological goals: to create a market that would encourage companies to reduce greenhouse gases by making them pay for each ton emitted into the atmosphere.
Four years later, the carbon trading system has created a multibillion-euro windfall for some of the continent's biggest polluters, with little or no noticeable benefit to the environment so far. Read more...

EU agrees to cut car emissions in climate fight

ENN, December 02, 2008

European carmakers must cut global-warming gases from new vehicles by 18 percent within the next six years, the EU agreed on Monday, after a long battle between environmentalists and an industry facing tough times.
"This deal represents a balance between the needs of the environment and the car industry across Europe, which is suffering massively at the moment," British Conservative lawmaker Martin Callanan told Reuters late on Monday. Read more...

Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση διατηρεί το γενικό στόχο της για το κλίμα

In.gr, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2008

Παρά τις αντιδράσεις πολλών χωρών-μελών που ανησυχούν για το κόστος, οι ηγέτες της ΕΕ συμφώνησαν στη Σύνοδο Κορυφής να επιμείνουν στο στόχο τους για μείωση των αερίων του θερμοκηπίου, λαμβάνοντας όμως υπόψη τις «ιδιαίτερες συνθήκες» σε κάθε χώρα. Το φιλόδοξο σχέδιο της η ΕΕ κατά της κλιματικής αλλαγής προβλέπουν ότι πολλές βαριές βιομηχανίες θα πρέπει να πληρώνουν για τα δικαιώματα εκπομπής αερίων του θερμοκηπίου. Στόχος είναι να μειωθούν οι εκπομπές κατά 20% έως το 2020, σε σχέση με τα επίπεδα του 1990. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Analysts say global carbon market will pass $100B by year's end

ENN, October 13, 2008

The global carbon market is on pace to grow more than 80 percent this year to $116 billion, according to the clean-technology research and analytics firm New Energy Finance.
The burgeoning market -- which hinges on the buying and selling of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions-- grew almost 36 percent, from $64 billion at the start of January to $87 billion at the end of September. Read more...

Norway's Efforts to Contain Greenhouse Gases Move Forward -- and Backfire

The Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2008

In 1991, Norway became one of the first countries in the world to impose a stiff tax on harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, the country's emissions should have dropped. Instead, they have risen by 15%.
Although the tax forced Norway's oil and gas sector to become among the greenest in the world, soaring energy prices led to a boom in offshore production, which in turn boosted overall emissions. Read more...

Carbon Emissions: Continuing Growth Despite International Efforts

World Watch Institute, August 8, 2008

Between 2000 and 2007, carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion worldwide increased 22 percent to an estimated 8.2 billion tons, according to the latest Vital Signs Update. China accounted for a staggering 57 percent of the growth during this period, while India contributed 8 percent and the United States and Europe contributed 4 and 3 percent, respectively. But, despite the dramatic rise in China's emissions, Americans still outpace the Chinese more than 4 to 1 in per capita carbon emissions. Read more...