Climate change

17 Jan 2023

The Dawn of Green Protectionism?

In her keynote speech at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, outlined yesterday the main pillars of the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan to boost Europe’s leadership in green technology on its road to carbon neutrality.  “We know we have a small window to invest in clean tech and innovation to gain leadership before the fossil fuel economy becomes obsolete,” said von der Leyen. As the plan’s regulatory pillar, she announced a new Net-zero Industry Act to support the “greatest industrial transformation of our times” and keep up with strongly incentivized programs […]

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26 Jul 2021

State Aid and Climate Change: The Challenges

Here we go again, fighting climate change.  This time, we are focusing on State aid and climate change, and discussing an important question – how green is State aid? Back in 2019, Europe ushered the European Green Deal.  The European Commission published a Communication on the European Green Deal in its tenacious efforts to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.  This Communication is the EU’s attempt to work on the transition to a future where there will be no “bad emissions”, to put it plainly.  If we were to get more technical, to create a Europe with net-zero emissions […]

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14 Jul 2021

European Commission officially reveals Fit for 55 package

The European Commission (“EC”) adopted the Fit for 55 climate action plan on Wednesday, announcing a legislative package that aims to cut carbon emissions in the European Union (“EU”) by 55% by 2030, compared to levels measured in 1990.  It also calls for action to make the continent carbon neutral by 2050. The Fit for 55 package includes provisions on expanding the EU Emissions Trading System to charge for carbon emissions in more sectors.  Additionally, it proposes Effort Sharing Regulation and prescribes new emissions-cutting targets per Member State.  It also calls for an increase in renewable energy sources use, creates […]

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