Carbon markets have emerged in recent decades as one of the most important tools for curbing industrial greenhouse gas emissions, but they present a number of novel enforcement challenges when compared with more conventional pollution regulations. These challenges include new regulators with narrow authority, lack of legal precedent, and more. …
Rather than examining aggregate emissions trends, this study delves deep into the dynamics affecting each sector of the EU energy system. It examines the structural changes taking place in power production, transport, buildings and industry, and benchmarks these with the changes required to reach the 2030 and 2050 targets. In …
The 2016 edition of the annual EEA report, Trends and projections in Europe, provides an updated assessment of the progress of the EU and European countries towards their climate mitigation and energy targets. The report confirms that the European Union (EU) is well on track to meet its greenhouse gas …
The report provides an analysis of past, present and future emissions trends under the EU ETS, based on the latest data and information available from the European Commission and Member States. It also analyses the balance between supply and demand of allowances in the market. The report's annexes provide extensive …
This paper discusses how carbon pricing can facilitate a low-carbon transition, or a further net zero carbon transition, responding to the Paris Agreement. There is a strong synergy between carbon pricing and the Paris Agreement; the call for ambitious climate actions through carbon pricing by both heads of governments and …
This paper briefly analyses the major factors that accounted for decreased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions excluding land use, land use changes and forestry (LULUCF) in the EU-28. It consists of two parts: the first part looks at the year 2014 compared to 2013 and the second part looks at the …
International carbon offsetting can help reduce compliance costs in emissions trading schemes and at the same time support carbon mitigation projects in developing countries. A surprising observation from the European Union Emissions Trading System’s experience with offsetting is that companies do not fully utilise offsetting for compliance despite the cost …
From 2013 onwards, emission allowances are no longer granted for free to power companies under the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). These companies instead have to buy all of their allowances through auctions. However, a provisional exemption was made for ten new Member States who can temporarily hand out …
As the world moves on from the climate agreement negotiated in Paris, attention is turning from the identification of emissions reduction trajectories—in the form of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—to crucial questions about how these emissions reductions are to be delivered and reported within the future international accounting framework. The experience …
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has helped finance more than 2000 hydropower projects, representing the largest source of OECD bilateral funding for hydropower. Europe, through its European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, has been the major supporter. However, environment and sustainability regulations intending to ensure ‘respect’ for the World Commission on …
This study has calculated the additional profits that sectors and companies have made from the EU ETS from 2008 to 2014, distinguishing between three types of profits: Profits from over allocation of free emission allowances. In many sectors/countries, free allowances have been granted in excess of verified emissions, allowing industries …
The International Carbon Action Partnership’s Status Report 2016 shows emissions trading is gaining ever more importance in the fight against climate change. The International Carbon Action Partnership’s (ICAP) Status Report 2016, highlights the continuous growth and key role that emissions trading systems (ETS) play in the fight against climate change. …
Countries should set targets to increase public investment in low-carbon research and development (R&D;) slowly and steadily beyond 2020, according to a report published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science. The report states that while it is …
In a report published as part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Discussion Note (SDN) series, experts examine the role that fiscal polices can play in assisting countries to implement the Paris Agreement adopted at the end of 2015. The paper, titled 'After Paris: Fiscal, Macroeconomic, and Financial Implications …
A new paper discusses the current and potential interaction between nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) and intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). With a view on the climate summit starting in Paris today, it highlights the importance of NAMAs as a tool to help countries progress toward and beyond their 2020 …
The European Union is on track towards meeting and overachieving its 2020 target for reducing greenhouse emissions by 20%, according to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The "Trends and projections in Europe 2015" report reveals that greenhouse gas emissions in Europe decreased by 23% between 1990 …
The case for climate action has never been stronger. Current weather extremes, including storms, floods and drought, affect millions of people across the world. Climate change is putting water security at risk; threatening agricultural and other supply chains as well as many coastal cities. The likelihood of severe pervasive and …
Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure the EU’s climate and energy policies match today’s realities. This is not the moment for a re-shuffling of a well-worn deck of cards. Europe needs a strategy to re-energise our economies, to …
What is the optimal instrument design and choice for a regulator attempting to control emissions by private agents in face of uncertainty arising from business cycles? In applying Weitzman's result [Prices vs. quantities, Review of Economic Studies, 41 (1974), 477-491] to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, the price-quantity literature …
The electricity sector is undergoing an unprecedented transition. Significant penetration of renewable sources, combined with technological innovation on the grid and demand side, has provided the opportunity to decarbonize while reducing dependence on imported fuels. But the experiences of the EU – an early mover in the transition – and …
The introduction of mandatory CO2 standards for passenger cars in the European Union led to a significant decrease in the level of CO2 emissions for new vehicles, as well an increased deployment of vehicle efficiency technologies. This paper assesses the effect on technology innovation and deployment if mandatory CO2 standards …
