Germany holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Presidency of the North Seas Energy Cooperation for the remainder of 2020. It is using these platforms to promote the abundant potential of offshore wind energy in Europe. The next six months present an opportunity for Germany to steer the EU towards advancing the European Green Deal through the development of offshore technologies and the provision of finance opportunities for offshore wind projects.
The EU is committed to becoming a global leader in green finance and taking steps to protect the financial system from climate risk. It is determined to export its regulatory approach across the globe but faces challenges and limitations in this pursuit. The European Commission established a Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance in 2018 to improve the flow of information among financial market actors. While, overall, the Expert Group has made a promising start in its approach to addressing climate risks and promoting green finance, its approach has been criticized for lacking nuance, particularly when it comes to its binary classification of assets and sectors of the economy as either ‘green’ or ‘brown’. These critiques are important to consider if the EU is to successfully export its approach globally.
Commission President-elect, Ursula von der Leyen, has argued that the question of climate action is a moral, human and political obligation. She has made climate action a core element of her ‘Agenda for Europe’.
Brexit and climate change are like apples and tomatoes—there is no reason to mix them. To do so is to perpetuate the false dichotomy that we must choose between the economy and the environment when, in reality, there are no jobs on a dead planet.
In this publication, IIEA Senior Fellow Joseph Curtin argues that the “Trump Effect” has created a powerful countervailing force acting against the momentum which the Paris Agreement on climate change hoped to generate.
Joseph Curtin argues that effective climate action must consider not only prices and machines, but also people and communities.
In this climate policy blog, Joseph Curtin, IIEA Senior Research Fellow, examines how California’s climate performance would fare under the EU’s climate policy framework, and whether it would hold up under the microscope of closer inspection
It has been well-documented that Ireland is unlikely to meet its 2020 climate and energy targets. To meet the country’s 2030 targets, an ambitious, but realistic, climate and energy roadmap is needed now.
Applications are now invited for a showcase of innovative solutions to climate change from all disciplines. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to present their project at a major international conference.
Taking place in Dublin on Monday 5 November 2018, ‘Creative Responses to Climate Change: A Marketplace for Ideas’ will provide a space for dialogue, information-sharing and creativity
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