To meet its climate targets, the EU must double the speed it is renovating its residential and office buildings. Sweden has already almost completely decarbonised its sector. But it is on its own.
As a result of more stringent standards, recycling of plastic packaging is set to fall in the EU. Without better industrial capacity, the EU will not reach its 50% target in five years' time. And illegal exports are likely to increase.
The Covid-19 crisis brought about unprecedented reductions in CO2 emissions and energy consumption, benefiting renewables. This effect may be temporary however – but it could also mark the beginning of an ecological transition compatible with safeguarding the planet.
As the EU wants to get ambitious on climate change, it will have to act fast and decisevely on coal – which is the source of 28 per cent of CO2 emissions. About 600 coal-fired power plants are still in operation in the EU, especially in Germany and Poland.
Europeans may see themselves as climate champions, but they just keep flying more and more. The number of passengers has risen by 20 per cent in the last 5 years, and carbon emissions have exploded. It is not just a matter of offsetting them – they must be cut.
The EU emissions trading system has reached its 2020 reduction target as early as 2017. But it still needs to fix one problem to be truly efficient.
Organic food consumption has increased by more than 80% in seven years. To meet the demand, European countries are devoting more land to organic farming. What environmental impact does it have?
Without a high enough carbon price, surplus emissions permits will remain high and the European carbon market will remain broken.
Cruise ships, tankers, and giant container ships run on heavy fuel oil. On a global scale, sea transport emits nearly a billion tonnes of CO2 each year: five times more than rail, four and a half times less than cars. How to achieve “zero carbon” in shipping by 2050?
Europe fossil-fuel carbon emissions are dropping. But, breaking down the data, significant differences among the countries appear.
