Impacts, risks, adaptations

SOER 2020 – State and Outlook on the European Environment

12 December 2019By

The SOER report is published by the EEA every five years. SOER 2020 is the 6th SOER published by the EEA since 1995. Prepared in close collaboration with the EEA’s European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), it offers science-based insights on the huge and complex challenges the global community is now faced with, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and air and water pollution. Although EU environment and climate policies have made great advancements in the last years, Europe is still facing important problems in areas such as biodiversity loss, resource use, climate change impacts and environmental risks to health and well-being. We need to deliver more ambitious and quick responses to such challenges to be able to achieve the long-term sustainability goals to which we have committed. The upcoming decade is decisive in determining our opportunities to change the current trends.

Source: EEA

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Emissions & mitigation

UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019

26 November 2019By

The tenth edition of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report provides the latest assessment of scientific studies on current and estimated future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and compares these with the emission levels bearable for the world to progress on a least-cost pathway to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. This Report wants to fill in the gap between where we are now in terms of emissions, and where we need to be. Reflecting on the ten-year anniversary, a summary report, entitled Lessons from a decade of emissions gap assessments, was published in September for the Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit.

Source: UNEP website

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Economy & carbon markets

Government of Cyprus to Start Consultation on Green Fiscal Reform

11 November 2019By

The 20th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation, organised by the Cyprus University of Technology, was held in Cyprus on 26-27 September 2019. GCET is the leading global forum for exchanges on the principles and practice of environmental taxation and other market-based instruments for promoting the transition to low-carbon and resource-efficient societies. The conference started with a talk by the Finance Minister of Cyprus Mr. Harris Georgiades, who declared that the government of Cyprus will open a public consultation in 2020 about the implementation of a green fiscal reform, with the aim to legally adopt this reform from 2021 onwards. Cyprus is among the EU Member states that are not on track to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments up to 2030. The proposal for a green tax reform, a key part of which is the gradual adoption of a carbon tax on all sectors of the Cypriot economy that are not subject to the EU ETS, is being prepared by the Finance Ministry of Cyprus together with Prof. Theodoros Zachariadis of the Cyprus University of Technology, EAERE’s Country Representative in Cyprus.

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Economy & carbon markets

Fiscal Monitor: How to Mitigate Climate Change

22 October 2019By
The October 2019 edition of the Fiscal Monitor by the International Monetary Fund focuses on the design of fiscal policies for climate mitigation at the domestic and international level.

This report emphasizes the environmental, fiscal, economic, and administrative case for using carbon taxes, or similar pricing schemes such as emission trading systems, to implement climate mitigation strategies. It provides a quantitative framework for understanding their effects and trade-offs with other instruments and applies it to the largest advanced and emerging economies. Alternative approaches, like “feebates” to impose fees on high polluters and give rebates to cleaner energy users, can play an important role when higher energy prices are difficult politically. At the international level, the report calls for a carbon price floor arrangement among large emitters, designed flexibly to accommodate equity considerations and constraints on national policies. The report estimates the consequences of carbon pricing and redistribution of its revenues for inequality across households. Strategies for enhancing the political acceptability of carbon pricing are discussed, along with supporting measures to promote clean technology investments.

Source: IMF

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Water, agriculture, forestry

New FAO Digital Report on the State of Food and Agriculture 2019

15 October 2019By

This report explores the food loss and waste issues. The broad estimate FAO provided in 2011 suggested that around 1/3 or 30 percent of the world’s food was lost or wasted every year. This can be considered a preliminary estimate that raised awareness of the issue.

To provide more clarity on the subject, that figure is in the process of being replaced with two separate SDG indicators, the Food Loss Index and the Food Waste Index. These two indices will allow to measure more precisely how much food is lost in production or in the supply chain, or is wasted by consumers or retailers.

Surf through the platform by FAO

Download the Full Report here

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Economy & carbon markets

EEA Report: Paving the way for a circular economy – insights on status and potentials

10 October 2019By

This new report by the EEA takes stock of the initiatives for creating a circular economy that reduce the use of natural resources and minimise harmful emissions and waste. According to the report, European companies are increasingly adopting circular business models, focused mainly on operational efficiency and reducing waste. Another promising development is to shift from product-based to service-based business models. The largest barriers to a greater uptake of such models appear to be corporate culture, market factors and system complexity.

Read the Full Report

Image © Donnie Rosie on Unsplash

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

25 September 2019By

This new Report by IPCC highlights the urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere. The report reveals the benefits of ambitious and effective adaptation for sustainable development and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action. The ocean and the cryosphere – the frozen parts of the planet – play a critical role for life on Earth. A total of 670 million people in high mountain regions and 680 million people in low-lying coastal zones depend directly on these systems. Four million people live permanently in the Arctic region, and small island developing states are home to 65 million people.

Source: IPCC Press Release

The Report can be downloaded here

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Energy

New EEA Report on Adaptation challenges and opportunities for the European energy system

4 September 2019By

This report studies current and future needs for climate change adaptation and climate resilience in the European energy system. This analysis supports the clean energy transition, which involves a huge expansion of renewable energy sources, many of which are sensitive to climate factors.

The Report clearly states that the European energy system needs to take the climate change effects into consideration in addition to pursuing a clean energy transition.Indeed, despite having some possible good outcomes such as less energy needs for heating, global warming impacts will mostly be negative, and our current system is not ready to adapt to them.

Different European regions may be affected differently, but the assessment recommends countries to consider “the impacts of climate change in the development of national climate and energy plans and long‑term strategies under the EU Energy Union.” 

Read the Full Report

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

IPCC’S new Special Report on Climate Change and Land

8 August 2019By

Today, 8 August 2019, the IPCC has officially presented its latest special report titled “Climate Change and Land” during the press conference held at the World Meteorological Organization premises in Geneva, Switzerland from 10 am CEST. The presentation was co-organized with UN Foundation within the framework of the Geneva Environment Network.

The special report deals with climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

The report was developed under the joint scientific leadership of Working Groups I, II, III and the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, and supported by the WG III TSU.

103 experts from 52 countries were selected as Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors – who worked on each individual chapter – and Review Editors.

The full list of Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors and Review Editors can be found here.

Watch the press conference video

Download the report

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Energy

Renewables 2019 Global Status Report

2 August 2019By

REN21 is an international policy network of experts from governments, inter-governmental organisations, industry associations, NGOs, and science and academia. Every year, REN21 produces its annual flagship publication, the Renewables Global Status Report (GSR). According to the evidence of 2018, solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind are becoming increasingly popular in the power sector, with an increasing number of countries generating more than 20% of their electricity with solar PV and wind. However, current trends show that stronger policy decisions are needed across all sectors of energy end-use to make our energy systems sustainable. Data in this year’s report illustrate that ambitious policy and regulatory frameworks are needed to create favourable and competitive conditions, allowing renewable energy to grow and displace more expensive and carbon-emitting fuels.

Read the Full Report

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