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Poland’s top climate official said the country is preparing to set a date for a complete phase-out of coal-fired power generation, just months after the nation elected a new government that has pledged to support environmental policies of the European Union (EU). ... Poland, which currently receives about 70% of its electricity from burning coal, and has long been Europe’s largest producer of the fuel, has been slowly increasing its use of solar and wind power. ... Urszula Zielinska, the country’s Secretary of State for Climate, during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Jan. 15, said, “Only with an end...

New rules to make it easier for consumers to request repairs for goods will be voted on by the European Parliament. The legislation seeks to introduce a “right to repair”, in order to reduce unnecessary waste. It will require producers and sellers of goods to prioritize the repair of an item during its guarantee period, when it is cheaper or equal to the cost of replacement. After that time, consumers will also still have a right to request the repair of certain products. However, this does not extend to items like cars or batteries. Items such as washing machines, vacuum...

Ireland will not meet its carbon budget targets for 2021 to 2025 or for 2026 to 2030, unless urgent action is taken. That is the warning from the Climate Change Advisory Council, which published its annual review for 2023 today. It warns that unless emissions begin to fall much more rapidly, the targets set in April last year will be missed. The Council said that the pace of implementation of agreed policy by the Government “was not acceptable, given the existential threat and impact of climate change on society”. It noted that that spring and summer this year had seen...

The EU’s chemical strategy, unveiled in 2020, included pledges to “ban [non-essential uses] of the most harmful chemicals in consumer products” such as toys, babies’ nappies, cosmetics, detergents, food packaging and textiles. “It is especially important to stop using the most harmful chemicals in consumer products, from toys and child care products to textiles and materials that come in contact with our food,” said EU Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans back in 2020. “Our health should always come first,” said EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides also said — three years ago. But internal documents have shown these commitments are unlikely...

The European Union is set to propose a plan to counteract the US $369 billion [€339 billion] Inflation Reduction Act on Wednesday (1 February), with looser state-aid rules for tax credits in green investments. The EU Commission has drafted plans to simplify and speed up companies’ access to tax credits in an effort to prevent companies from leaving the EU. Large wind and solar developers have criticized the EU funding regime for being too complicated and have pointed out that tax incentives in the US trigger automatically, making them more attractive. To address this, the commission has built a plan...

The European Commission will refer Ireland to the European Court of Justice for failing to correctly transpose the Water Framework Directive into Irish law — despite the signing into law in Ireland last month of new water-related legislation to addresses their concerns. The EU Directive establishes a framework for protecting inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater by preventing their further deterioration, preventing pollution as well as protecting and enhancing water dependent ecosystems and water resources. […] The Water Framework Directive requires that all inland and coastal waters reach at least good status by 2027 at the latest....

The European Union pushed forward on Tuesday with a major clean tech industrial plan which not only should keep the continent in the vanguard of plotting a greener future but also guarantee its economic survival as it faces challenges from China and the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the outlines for her “Green Deal Industrial Plan” that will make it much easier to push through subsidies for green industries and pool EU-wide projects that are boosted with major funding as the EU pursues the goal of being climate neutral by 2050. “We know that we...

European legislators on Thursday evening reached an agreement to phase out the sale of new combustion engine cars and vans by 2035. The deal between representatives of the European Parliament and the European Council was struck at around 21:00 CET and represents the first made under the bloc’s flagship Fit for 55 package to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The new legislation plans for a 55% CO2 emission reduction target for new cars and 50% for new vans by 2030 compared to 2021 levels and for a 100% CO2 emission cut by 2035, effectively...

...companies in Europe and the U.S. are furiously building dozens of gigafactories—Elon Musk’s term for massive EV battery factories. The upshot is that every $2 billion gigafactory will, over a decade of operation, purchase some $20 billion of battery minerals and materials. One might reasonably wonder: Purchase from where? And who benefits? ...companies in Europe and the U.S. are furiously building dozens of gigafactories—Elon Musk’s term for massive EV battery factories. The upshot is that every $2 billion gigafactory will, over a decade of operation, purchase some $20 billion of battery minerals and materials. One might reasonably wonder: Purchase from...

JUST IN - EU Parliament declares nuclear power and gas as "green" energy.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday urged member countries to provide relief funds to consumers and small businesses hit hardest by rising gas and electricity prices, as criticism mounts that the bloc’s climate change fighting policies are fueling the problem. In recent days, France and Spain have led the charge for change to the rules governing EU energy markets as the price surge ramps up already-high utility bills and increases pressure on many people already hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Energy prices in Spain have reached all-time highs since the summer. The cost of electricity is set...

Inflation in the 19 European countries that share the euro hit a 13-year high, challenging the European Central Bank’s (ECB) view that price pressures are largely benign and will soon fade. Consumer price inflation in the eurozone accelerated to 3.4 percent over the year in September, up from 3 percent a month earlier and 2.2 percent the month before that, according to Oct. 1 data (pdf) from Eurostat, the European Union’s statisics agency. That’s the highest reading since September 2008 and slightly ahead of analyst forecasts of 3.3 percent. A surge in energy costs was behind the bulk of the...

The European Court of Justice slapped Poland with a €500,000 ($586,000) daily fine on Monday in response to the country’s refusal to shut down the Turow open-cast lignite mine near the Czech border. The Czech Republic took the case to court over complaints that the mine is causing cross-border environmental hazards, especially as it concerns air and water quality. In May, the EU’s top court told Poland to shut down the mine, though Poland has refused to comply. In June, Prague asked the EU’s top court to fine Poland €5 million ($5.9 million) per day for failing to halt production...

The extent of destruction and death wrought by Germany's recent floods is slowly becoming apparent. Dozens of people have died, with many still reported missing. The disaster has devastated entire towns, washing away residential houses, cars and trees. Natural disasters are nothing new. They occurred long before the advent of the industrial age, when humans began burning fossil fuels on a large scale. Over time, however, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have doubled, raising Earth's temperature by 1 degree Celsius (1.8° Fahrenheit). A greater frequency and intensity of natural disasters has been the consequence. As vast swaths of western Germany are dealing...

Europe has set a clear goal for full decarbonization by 2050, with renewables-based electricity set to become the dominant energy carrier, and that means fossil gas will have “only a marginal role” in the long run, EU climate chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday (25 March). By 2050, Europe’s energy system will be changed fundamentally, with ten times more solar and onshore wind power than today, said Timmermans, the European Commission’s executive vice-president in charge of the Green Deal. And “at the end of that road, there will be no more space for coal, very little room for oil, and...

The world must “keep a close eye on climate protection” as it faces the economic fallout of the pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, speaking remotely for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. “We need a financial market that provides cheap capital for climate-friendly investments,” said Merkel, during an address for the annual event usually held in Berlin. Merkel also called for climate action to be included as part of economic reconstruction plans following the pandemic, including investments in future-oriented technologies such as renewable energy. In a video address following Merkel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the pandemic had “exposed...

At the Place de la Bourse/Beursplein in central Brussels, tourists and commuters pick their way around coils of plastic tubing, bright green construction barriers and piles of paving stones that have been ripped up in the name of urban improvement. A few blocks north, the transformation is complete. What was once a busy boulevard clogged with traffic is now a car-free zone given over to pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and cafes taking advantage of the expanded sidewalk to offer alfresco dining. The area’s redevelopment began in 2017, and, weather permitting, will be finished by the end of 2020. But that’s just...

STRASBOURG, France - The EU budget chief said the bloc needs to invest dedicated funds to avert a “climate crash” as Brussels detailed how it planned to pay for a trillion euro push to cut net C02 emissions to zero by 2050 and protect member countries dependent on coal. “We need climate cash in order to avoid a climate crash,” European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Reuters on Tuesday. Of the 1 trillion euros of the EU’s 10-year investment plan, roughly half is to come from the EU long-term budget, the Commission said. This will trigger more than 100 billion...

The climate crisis, the digitalization of the labor market, and European solidarity on migration formed the main themes of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s traditional New Year’s address, to be broadcast on Tuesday evening. But the scale of these challenges was no reason to be discouraged, the chancellor insisted, in a speech that strived for an optimistic tone to begin both the New Year and the new decade. “I believe we have good reasons to feel confident that the 2020s, the decade that will begin in a few hours, can be good years,” she began, before ending with a resolution: “Let’s surprise...

European lawmakers have voted to declare an EU-wide climate emergency, in a symbolic move aimed at increasing pressure on the incoming European Commission to take a stronger stance on climate change. The climate declaration was passed on Thursday in Strasbourg during a European Parliament (EP) debate on the upcoming United Nations’ COP25 climate summit that kicks off December 2 in Madrid. In a statement on Twitter after the vote, EU lawmakers urged the European Commission “to fully ensure all relevant legislative and budgetary proposals are fully aligned” with the 1.5-degree-Celsius target limit on global warming. The resolution calls on the...