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Today, the European Commission has opened a new chapter in the life of the EU Covenant of Mayors for climate and energy, seeking to raise ambition on the path towards climate neutrality in line with the European Green Deal, and put a greater focus on action.
The Commission welcomes today's provisional agreement between the co-legislators on the European Climate Law. As one of the key elements of the European Green Deal, the European Climate Law enshrines the EU's commitment to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 and the intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
Greenhouse gas emissions from operators covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) fell by 13.3% in 2020 compared to 2019 levels. This reduction resulted from an 11.2% decrease in emissions from stationary installations and a 64.1% decrease in emissions from aviation.
Both organisations call on the world’s leading economies to pave the way for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within a generation, with the energy sector playing a crucial role.
Following the evaluation of the first stage of the application process, 70 projects are invited to continue on the second stage and submit full applications for the first Innovation Fund call for large-scale projects, while all applicants have been informed about the results.
Today, China’s Minister for Ecology and Environment, Huang Runqiu, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, and the Canadian Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson, co-convened the 5th session of the Ministerial on Climate Action. The annual meeting, hosted by China this year, was held virtually for the second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 15 March Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans met online with Mr. Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change. The two envoys held a constructive discussion on the next steps ahead of the crucial climate COP in Glasgow this year and on China’s 14th Five Year Plan, following its recent adoption.
In response to the first Innovation Fund call for small-scale projects with capital expenditure between EUR 2.5 and EUR 7.5 million, the European Commission received 232 applications for innovative clean tech projects in renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).
On 24 March 2021, Vivid Economics organises an expert workshop on the Market Stability Reserve, as part of a contract with the European Commission.
Emission allowances issued under the EU Emission Trading System are classified as financial instruments in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65/EU (MiFID II) since 2018. The classification as financial instruments means that a number of financial market rules also apply to the carbon market.
