EU policy is central to progress in combating climate change both in Europe and globally. IEEP's climate programme engages in key contemporary issues, notably international negotiations, the role of bioenergy, strategies for transport, funding and the EU Budget, energy conservation and the challenge of adaptation.
Climate change is a complex problem that requires a coordinated policy response. As such, climate change crops up in all work areas at IEEP, from dealing with issues of environmental governance in relation to international negotiations, or in terms of understanding the links to land use. Together we are able to bring a range of disciplinary perspectives to the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
To reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases causing global temperature increase, well-targeted mitigation measures are essential. IEEP has experience in evaluating the effectiveness of such measures, in particular by examining their national implementation in Member States.
The transport and energy sectors are the biggest contributors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the EU so naturally a lot of our work centres on policies regulating these areas. Regarding transport, we were influential in the development of the recent legislation on limiting the CO2 emissions from cars and we are currently very much involved in the definition of sustainability criteria for biofuels. We have also worked on environmental labelling and consumer information on new cars; the links between climate change, transport and obesity; and the need to reform the existing perverse economic incentives that encourage car use.
The energy sector is key to reducing both CO2 emissions and resource use: bringing down energy consumption through demand management and improved efficiency, well-planned renewable energy technologies, sustainably implemented bioenergy and other emerging mitigation technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).
In addition to efforts on mitigation, society must learn to cope with the impacts to which we have already committed ourselves as a result of past emissions. IEEP follows the evolution of policy for adaptation to climate change. Our current work in this area is concerned with improving Europe’s capacity to account for the cost of adaptation and related public spending, filling an important gap in the knowledge base for adaptation policy.
Addressing climate change costs money. IEEP is working to understand how climate change priorities can be reflected in EU spending, in particular how the concept of ‘climate proofing’ can be operationalised in the EU budget.
Climate policy and land use is an area where our work is rapidly expanding. IEEP’s capacity to think across sectoral and environmental policy domains enables us to consider conflicting policy objectives, such as those on bioenergy, soil carbon sequestration, urban planning and the EU’s impacts beyond its borders.
IEEP also has educational charity status. We have experience of training and capacity building on a wide range of topics. Notably, we have been very active in supporting the European Parliament in its role in EU climate policy.
Highlights
Now that COP27 has come to a bitter end, the world’s attention has turned to Qatar for this year’s next big climate event. With the last eight years on track to be the warmest on record, we dig into the carbon footprint of this year’s FIFA World Cup and what the lack of accountability around it means for global efforts to fight climate change.
If carefully designed and implemented, imposing additional environmental taxes on the aviation sector can have progressive distributional results and create positive welfare effects for the majority of EU households.
After experiencing the worst summer drought in 500 years and an unusually warm October, EU policymakers should be determined to make the Green Deal a success. The only way to make this happen is to tackle – once and for all – our food system, which is economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable, from the sowing of the plants we eat or feed, to the animals we farm, to our consumption patterns.
The proposed EU regulation for nature restoration offers a unique opportunity to tackle both biodiversity loss and climate change through an integrated approach. Restoring ecosystems is essential to safeguard their carbon storage and enhance their sequestration capacities as well as increasing resilience and adaptability to the impacts of climate change. This policy brief highlights the key contributions that the proposed regulation can make to mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The EU has been pursuing a transition to a circular economy in earnest since the launch of the first EU Circular Economy Action Plan in 2015. In March 2020 the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan. Although a number of circular economy initiatives have been put forward, further steps are still needed to achieve a full circular economy transition in the EU.
We must invest in our environmental future, not only to heal our planet but heal our society. Our social and cultural wellbeing is intrinsically tied to the environment and climate we live in.
While world leaders are currently preparing themselves for yet another UN Climate Change Conference – COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Institute for European Environmental Policy calls for decision-makers to address the need for a paradigm shift in economic, social, and environmental policies.
In the last 30 years, the amounts of CO2 emissions have increased at a rate faster than ever before in history. IEEP has calculated that they would need to be reduced twice as fast in order to stay well below a 2°C increase.
The European Commission proposed a zero-emission road mobility target for 2035 to reduce emissions produced by new passenger cars by 100% compared to 2021. Electric vehicles (EVs) are set to play a key role in decarbonising EU road transport, however, the net-zero transition will have implications for the EU's material demand and waste generation.
This new report reveals the scepticism of sustainability experts regarding the implementation status of the European Green Deal in the short term, but some cautious optimism post-2024. Based on insights from over 300 experts, the Green Deal Barometer provides recommendations for taking forward the implementation in the current crisis.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence proposal has the potential to transform the way business is conducted in Europe. Consideration of climate change-related adverse human rights and environmental impacts should be central to due diligence frameworks in general and to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) proposal in particular.
This briefing maps out some of the principal spillovers that may be associated with the introduction of the ‘right to repair’ in the EEE sector in particular, including implications for job creation, labour standards and the role of social economy actors in the repair economy, as well as possible rebound effects both inside and outside the EU, and sets out some initial policy recommendations to address them.
On 29 and 30 June 2022, IEEP and IDDRI welcomed members of the Think2030 platform at Sciences Po, Paris to discuss the implementation status of the European Green Deal. This report is a summary of a two-day discussion among national and EU-level policymakers, experts, representatives of civil society and the private sector on how to make the Green Deal a reality.
When Ursula von der Leyen presented one of the most ambitious political projects to date in EU history, aiming at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, nobody could imagine that just a few months later, an unprecedented pandemic would lock down the whole EU. Yet, and despite strong pushes to derail the European Green Deal agenda as an immediate reply to the crisis, the Green Deal stayed afloat and was even slightly boosted through the national recovery and resilient plans.
Mitigating negative social impacts and maximising positive social impacts of climate and energy policies are central to building the political and social acceptability of the energy transition. If well-designed, the Fit for 55 package can lay the foundation for a just transition in Europe. Each of the files assessed in this briefing has the potential to deliver significant social benefits while accelerating the decarbonisation of the EU economy.
Organised during the EU Green Week, this event will look at the impact of the war in Ukraine on the implementation of the Green Deal.
The Think2030 conference is back for its third edition! This in-person event, co-organised by IEEP and IDDRI, will centre the discussion on European Green Deal implementation by 2024 and beyond.
This event is organised for experts from civil society, academia, and government with knowledge of digitalisation, sustainability, and/or environmental justice. The results will be used to inform an analysis paper for the German Environment Agency.
What’s next for the Green Deal? Contribute to the second edition of the European Green Deal Barometer, IEEP’s annual consultation on the implementation status of the Green Deal.
This briefing reviews existing evidence on the impact of environmental degradation on European food availability in the long run, if food systems are to remain as they are. It focuses on climate change, biodiversity loss and soil degradation.
