“Climate Change…”

Climate change is already affecting Europe in various forms, depending on the region. It can lead to biodiversity loss, forest fires, decreasing crop yields and higher temperatures. It can also affect people’s health.

Global climate goals threatened by lack of clean tech collaboration

Global efforts to reduce emissions and curb rising temperatures are threatened by a lack of collaboration between countries in sharing and developing new technology, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Tuesday.

Major economies around the world such as the United States, and European countries are seeking to reach net zero emissions by 2050 to try to limit a rise in global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius, requiring huge changes in energy production, transportation and food production.

“Through international collaboration, we can make the transition quicker, cheaper and easier for everyone,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement with the first Breakthrough Agenda report, released on Tuesday with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the U.N. Climate Change High Level Champions. “Without this collaboration, the transition to net zero emissions will be much more challenging and could be delayed by decades,” he said.

The report said collaboration needed to ramp up and made 25 recommendations including increasing cross-border power super grids to support cross country trading in low-carbon power such as wind and solar. It also said countries should agree a common date by which all new vehicles should be zero emission, such as electric vehicles, suggesting 2035 for cars and vans and 2040 for heavy duty vehicles.

“This will send a clear signal to industry and unlock larger economies of scale and faster cost reductions, making the transition more affordable for all countries,” the report said.

Countries should also work to increase the production of low-carbon steel to over 100 million tonnes by 2030 from less than 1 million tonnes today, it said.

The report was requested by world leaders at last year’s COP climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, to help align actions and scale up investment in technology in five major sectors – power, road transport, steel, hydrogen and agriculture – that account for around 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate policies’ relation to price stability objective

The ECB recently clarified it is firmly committed to further incorporating climate change considerations into its monetary policy framework. Starting from October 2022, ECB will tilt reinvestments of cash maturing from corporate debt towards firms with lower greenhouse gas emissions, more ambitious carbon reduction targets and better climate related disclosures. Total of 344 billion euro is planned to be gradually allocated for corporate debt portfolio to favour greener firms.

The ECB is currently forecasting the eurozone’s inflation to 6,8% for 2022 and 3,5% for 2023, significantly overshooting its inflation targets. Christine Lagarde recently stated the ECB “will go as far as necessary” to stop spiralling inflation.

Ukraine war thrusts German climate action into spotlight

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Germany remains committed to phasing out coal as a source of power by 2030 even as it reactivates coal-fired power plants, the country’s climate envoy said Monday. Germany says it took the step to get through the coming winter amid energy shortages as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We are at a crossroads right now,” Jennifer Morgan said, adding that the war in Ukraine shows how interlinked energy security and independence are with climate security and peace. Morgan spoke with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The U.S.-born former international head of Greenpeace stepped into the role of Germany’s special envoy for international climate action in March. Now a German citizen, she is also state secretary.

Ten months ago, in her role at Greenpeace, she chastised world leaders for being “weak” on phasing down coal rather than phasing it out altogether. More circumspect as a government official, she now says the dirty fuel is bitter medicine that her country is forced to take this winter, echoing the sentiment of the country’s Green party. “We are in the middle a Russian war of aggression,” she said. “We need to assure that our citizens have enough heat for the winter.”

She said the decision to burn more coal is “a hard pill to swallow.” She did, however, emphasize that the war in Ukraine “has made it ever more clear why we have to phase out fossil fuels.”

European Union countries are spending billions this year on fossil fuel subsidies to offset high prices. The bloc has drawn fierce criticism for including natural gas, a fossil fuel, and nuclear power in a list of sustainable activities. The bloc also signed a deal this year with Egypt and Israel to help with new gas exploration.

Morgan said Germany’s first priority remains renewable energy and energy efficiency, with a target to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. The second priority, she said, is replacing Russian gas, oil and coal.

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