
IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
The global energy crisis has become a driving force behind the rapid growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
Sunday
4th Jun 2023
The global energy crisis has become a driving force behind the rapid growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
"If energy prices increase again and support cannot be fully discontinued, targeted policies to support vulnerable households and companies — rather than wide and less effective support policies — will remain crucial," the commission said in its assessment.
European governments are phasing out fossil fuels at home, but continuing their financial support for fossil mega-projects abroad. This is despite the EU agreeing last year to decarbonise export credits — insurance on risky non-EU projects provided with public money.
Austria, France, Ireland and the Netherlands want to tighten EU rules regulating polluting private jets.
We, the undersigned members of the US Congress and the European Parliament, address this letter to the president of the United States, the president of the European Commission, the secretary-general of the UN, and the executive secretary of the UNFCCC.
In a moment that could have been an act of polite rebellion, physicist and ecologist Vandana Shiva walked off stage during a speech about the need to 'put a price on nature' in the European Parliament this week.
The European Central Bank in its Financial Stability Review warned EU home prices could see a 'disorderly' fall as high mortgage rates are making houses unaffordable for households and unattractive for investors.
Extreme weather events in recent months have worsened agricultural production in southern Europe, prompting concerns for authorities in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. As countries will likely face dryer conditions, experts urge adaptation measures for the 'new normal'.
Calls for developed countries to prepare for the arrival of "climate refugees" and to expand the UN Refugee Convention accordingly are uninformed and, worse, counter-productive.
Researchers found that global societal costs of the so-called forever chemicals or PFAS amount to €16 trillion per year. Meanwhile, the bigger producers of these chemicals are also among the ones spending the most to lobby EU policies.
MEPs from the agriculture and fisheries committees have voted to reject the nature restoration proposal — a key proposal that aims to halt biodiversity loss and reverse the degradation of ecosystems in the bloc.
Half of the world's work is unpaid, and women carry out most of it. According to estimates, activities like cooking, cleaning, collecting food or caring for children and the elderly may be valued at up to 60 percent of GDP.
EUobserver sat down with the economist and historian Matthias Schmelzer to talk about his recent work on degrowth, why growth is such a powerful paradigm, and how to imagine a world not based on ever-increasing consumption and waste.
With the significant influence it can have on EU legislation, it is disturbing that the Regulatory Scrutiny Board is allowed to operate largely in secret. EU citizens and even MEPs have no insight into how the RSB reaches its decisions.
The European Commission raised its economic growth forecast but notes that inflation will continue to eat into household income while the contribution of corporate profits to price pressure is expected to remain high in 2023.
European Central Bank supervisors are too lax in supervising how they manage credit risk, the EU Court of Auditors has found.
GDP is an unreliable indicator of economies' capacity to thrive in times of change. And the over-reliance on GDP won't get our economies on track to meet environmental and social goals when crises hit.
Can moving beyond growth help land societies in a more stable future? Olivia Lazard's researches explores the geopolitics of climate-disrupted futures and ecological breakdown.
We asked European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni and Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament Philippe Lamberts if Europe can fight inequality and protect the planet without growth.
An EU that renounces the economic growth dogma could more easily reduce its dependence on energy and materials from Russia and China, thus gaining resilience. Reducing its security dependence on the US, however, is a tougher nut to crack.
MEPs called for new revenue sources, including a financial transaction tax, a digital levy, a levy on share buybacks, a tax on cryptocurrencies, and a fair border tax to be paid by firms that do not pay workers enough.
From a human point of view GDP is not a great measure. Yet it's been the economic dogma for decades now. But what should we use then? This is what we'll be exploring (among other things) in Growth Week.
We sat down with Kate Raworth, the renegade thinker and author of Doughnut Economics to talk about prosperity beyond growth.
Western Balkan governments have announced a series of new gas pipelines, terminals and power plants, supposedly to steer the region away from Russia. If implemented they will hamper the region's transition to renewables, and aggravate economic and security risks.
Researchers have collected evidence showing that without significant debt relief, many developing countries will not be able to invest in a green future, risking another "lost decade" for those countries.
"Africa has to unite behind a single agenda on debt resolution. We know what China wants, we know what the US wants, we know what the World Bank wants, but we don't know what Africa wants."
Acts of sabotage on wind farms or the underwater electricity grid are likely to be carried out as 'grey zone tactics', state-sponsored sabotage may be disguised as a civilian accident, or carried out from a leisure yacht or fishing boat.
New analysis by Greenpeace has ranked the affordability of public transport in 30 European countries — concluding that in most places prices are too high.
The European Central Bank has raised rates repeatedly since July last year to rein in inflation, and analysts expect the bank to raise it once again — although experts are divided on how big the rise should be.
Around 35 million buildings will need renovation or demolition in the next decade. A task that will expose millions of workers to asbestos.
EU finance ministers meet in Stockholm to negotiate new spending rules, with frugal Germany expected to clash with France and Italy. Meanwhile the proposal has been criticised by economists for not leaving enough room for climate investment.
With 60 percent of African countries spending more on debt repayment than on national healthcare, the EU should use Global Gateway financing to address structural issues rather than conversations about finance.
The EU Commission's proposed new debt rules give capitals more power over their own spending, but still envisage tough fines for profligates.