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CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY

EU remains off track to meet Kyoto targets

19.06.2008 @ 17:21 CET

Greenhouse gas emissions from the oldest European Union member states have declined slightly, according to the latest EU data. But the decline occurred to such a small degree, that if they continue at this pace, they will overshoot reduction targets set under the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.

Climate Technology Focus

11.06.2007 @ 19:12 CET

EUOBSERVER / CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – Europeans, experts and politicians agree that climate change is a fact and that human activity contributes to it. Now, all they need to do is find out how best to tackle it. In this special focus, EUobserver talks to key players and examines what lies ahead for Europe in the bloc's fight to limit global warming.

FOCUS EDITOR: HELENA SPONGENBERG

Biofuels targets too much too soon for Ireland

28.07.2008 @ 17:44 CET

Irish energy minister Eamon Ryan has said that his government is dropping a target of biofuels making up 5.75 percent of transport fuels by 2010 in the wake of a slew of reports released in the last six months that have shown strong links between EU and US biofuels policies and increased greenhouse gas emissions and skyrocketing food prices.

EU split on fuel tax while Chavez makes oil threats

20.06.2008 @ 09:35 CET

French and Italian ideas on using taxes to combat rising fuel prices gained ground at an EU summit on Thursday in Brussels despite hostility from several member states, even as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez threatened to cut EU oil supplies in protest against new deportation rules.

Biofuels targets face cross-party criticism in Brussels

28.05.2008 @ 18:02 CET

International opposition to biofuels has seen MEPs from both the Greens and the centre-right European Peoples' Party call for the softening or even scrapping of proposals to increase the use of the controversial energy source in European transport.

EU targets 'intelligent' light-bulbs in climate battle

14.05.2008 @ 09:23 CET

Information technologies that improve the efficiency of everyday items such as light-bulbs, the heating of buildings and how electricity is distributed can produce large energy savings and are an important weapon in the struggle against climate change, the European Commission has said.

EU parliament wades into carbon capture battlefield

07.05.2008 @ 17:30 CET

The EU could subsidise coal and other fossil-fuel-burning energy companies to support the rapid development of a controversial technology that involves the storage of carbon deep underground or under the sea bed, according to proposals currently under consideration.

US subsidies killing off EU biodiesel producers, trade group complains

29.04.2008 @ 09:20 CET

While the pressure on biofuels increases globally over concerns that the alternative energy source contributes to global warming and the food crisis, European and American biodiesel producers are caught in their own internecine dispute over subsidies.

Brussels turns to gods for help with climate change

06.05.2008 @ 09:40 CET

Brussels officials have turned to religious VIPs to help spread the gospel of an environmentally friendly society and increase awareness of climate change in their parishes, as well as promoting tolerance between different confessions in Europe.

Nuclear energy a solution to climate change, says Brussels

15.04.2008 @ 17:45 CET

The EU's top energy official has underscored the vital role that nuclear energy has to play in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and its importance in helping deliver the bloc's energy needs at a time of "persistently high" oil prices.

EU biofuel sustainability criteria too weak, say green groups

07.04.2008 @ 17:43 CET

Documents outlining proposed sustainability criteria for biofuels currently under consideration by European officials show that member states are planning to apply "only cosmetic changes" to existing criteria, according to environmental groups.

EU must boost military capabilities in face of climate change

10.03.2008 @ 17:41 CET

The European Union should boost its civil and military capacities to respond to "serious security risks" resulting from catastrophic climate change expected this century, according to a joint report from the EU's two top foreign policy officials.

EU wants code of conduct for nanotech research

11.02.2008 @ 09:17 CET

The European Commission has adopted a voluntary code of conduct in the field of nanotechnology research hoping to establish some guidelines in this fast-growing but little-understood research area.

Energy industry warns EU climate plans reduce Europe's energy security

07.02.2008 @ 09:22 CET

The European Commission's climate strategy is increasing Europe's energy vulnerability, with emissions restrictions leading to power companies scrapping plans to build plants, according to the world's major energy companies.

EU biofuels strategy supports human rights 'disaster' say Indonesian NGOs

13.02.2008 @ 17:38 CET

The EU is fuelling widespread human rights abuses on palm oil plantations across Indonesia via its support for biofuels, a coalition of indigenous advocacy, human rights and environmental groups say.

EU and aeronautics industry to fund 'green' aviation research

06.02.2008 @ 17:34 CET

The European Commission on Tuesday launched a joint public-private partnership to develop "green" aviation technologies. The Clean Sky initiative, with €1.6 billion in funding, is one of the European Union's biggest research funding programmes ever.

EU proposes eco-data collection 'system of systems'

05.02.2008 @ 17:26 CET

The European Commission has proposed the development of a comprehensive, pan-European environmental information clearing house, drawing together the dozens of existing environmental reporting systems in one centralised and user-friendly online access point.

EU unveils comprehensive climate and energy package

23.01.2008 @ 16:30 CET

By 2020, Europe must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, produce 20% of its energy from renewable sources and increase energy efficiency by 20%, according to new proposals – or "20/20/20 by 2020," in the words of commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

New EU emissions trading system to increase electricity prices

22.01.2008 @ 09:02 CET

The electricity sector in the EU will in the future be forced to buy the right to emit carbon dioxide by auction, as Brussels is set to strengthen the bloc's emissions trading scheme, seen as a key tool to fight climate change. But the move is likely to increase electricity prices by 10-15 percent by 2020.

Norway to become carbon neutral by 2030

18.01.2008 @ 08:48 CET

Norway's Labour-led coalition government has decided to make the country carbon neutral by 2030 - some 20 years earlier than its previous target, but EU state-aid rules may disrupt its plans, especially when it comes to government funding of technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

EU climate plan gets cool reception from business and green groups

24.01.2008 @ 09:22 CET

The European Commission's new climate and energy package has had a mixed reception, with green organisations generally saying it does not go far enough while the business lobby fears industry's competitiveness could be harmed.

EU should favour energy efficiency over renewables, says industry

26.11.2007 @ 17:23 CET

The European Union should focus on increasing energy efficiency rather than on promoting renewable energy if it wants to keep its industrial base and tackle climate change, a major EU business confederation has said.

Car emissions endanger EU climate goals, Greens say

19.10.2007 @ 08:00 CET

The EU needs more ambitious greenhouse-gas reducing targets if it is to reach its international environment commitments, a new study commissioned by green euro-deputies says.

Experts to lock horns over EU energy market reform

16.10.2007 @ 17:39 CET

Brussels and Moscow have agreed to set up a group of experts tailored to discuss the proposed reform of the EU energy market, including a highly-controversial set of restrictive measures on foreign energy bidders known as the 'Gazprom clause'.

EU aviation emissions plan too weak, says report

04.09.2007 @ 09:26 CET

Current EU proposals to include carbon dioxide emissions from aviation in the European Emissions Trading Scheme will have little impact on lowering aviation's contribution to climate change, according to a new scientific report.

Britain's EU climate change goals a 'challenge'

14.08.2007 @ 09:05 CET

The UK has admitted it will be a "challenge" to meet ambitious EU renewable energy goals following revelations of an internal report suggesting there was little chance of them being reached.

EU makes the case for nuclear energy

02.10.2007 @ 11:26 CET

The European commission has called on EU states to consider greater use of nuclear energy in order to avoid increasing dependence on oil and gas imports and to improve the bloc's energy security.

Brazil calls on Brussels to scrap biofuel tariffs

05.07.2007 @ 19:00 CET

Brazil - the world's largest producer of biofuels – has suggested the EU should scrap its biofuel import tariffs, challenging it to both compete more fairly in international trade while finding ways to live up to its green targets.

Europe must adapt to climate change, says Brussels

02.07.2007 @ 08:49 CET

Europe must get used to the effects of global warming in the near future and adapting to climate change should be included in European Union policy making, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas has said in a new report.

EU ministers scrap over CO2 rules for big and small cars

29.06.2007 @ 09:26 CET

EU environment ministers have reconfirmed the bloc's goal to cut green gas emissions produced by cars but failed to agree on the exact distribution of the climate change tasks between big and small car industries.

EU commission chief calls for more eco-technology

12.06.2007 @ 17:22 CET

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has called on Europe to boost its climate technology efforts if it wants to stay a world leader and benefit from the business likely to be made from low carbon technology in the future.

[Focus] Brussels struggles for answers to 2020 energy deadline

12.06.2007 @ 16:26 CET

When EU leaders in March agreed to cut CO2 and boost renewables by 2020, press asked German chancellor Angela Merkel how the targets would be met. She shrugged, smiled and said "With all the best will in the world, I can't tell you." By the end of November this year, the European Commission hopes to have some answers.

[Focus] How to cut your own CO2 emissions without changing your life

12.06.2007 @ 16:26 CET

While new measures and commitments on fighting global warming are taken at the political level and while scientists and innovators are researching new technology to lower greenhouse gas emissions, Europeans as individuals also have an important role to play.

[Focus] The EU's environment PR challenge

12.06.2007 @ 16:25 CET

The EU's conversion to the green cause has been rather sudden. Its record on tackling climate change is likely to depend on Brussels' ability to persuade member states that forging ahead with new energy-saving technologies is the way to an economically secure future.

[Focus] EU's old-style lightbulbs to become history

12.06.2007 @ 16:26 CET

Europe is seeking to get rid of traditional incandescent light bulbs as part of an overall step to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming - the move could reduce the EU's CO2 emissions by 25 million tonnes a year.

[Focus] Denmark seeks global climate deal in 2009

12.06.2007 @ 16:26 CET

EU member state Denmark is striving to get a political agreement on a new global climate deal to replace the current Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions when the Nordic country hosts the UN climate summit in December 2009. But it will be anything but easy, the Danish environment minister tells EUobserver.

Barroso sees 'dramatic' climate change in Greenland

26.06.2007 @ 09:25 CET

Climate change is the most important political issue in the European Union, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said after a visit to Greenland to see the effects of global warming first hand.

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