Is the global transport industry on a highway to climate hell? Transport has the highest reliance on fossil fuels of any sector. An Atradius Market Monitor examines the challenges in the transition to clean energy

Road to Net Zero ePub

Rebooting the European Union’s Net Zero Industry Act Simone Tagliapietra, Reinhilde Veugelers and Jeromin Zettelmeyer argue the EU should reboot the proposal and refocus objectives, improve its governance and add financial incentives to ensure implementation Is the steel industry on track to meet the world’s climate goals? Steel manufacturing contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than any other industry. An Atradius Market Monitor looks at steel manufacturing and the clean energy transition
How will higher carbon prices affect growth and inflation? Carbon pricing is a central instrument in the EU’s fight against climate change. Claus Brand et al use macroeconomic models examine what higher prices for carbon emissions will do to growth and inflation Climate action: approaching a tipping point? Sarah Breeden reflects that we haven’t yet reached the tipping point in an unavoidably uncertain transition. Governments, business, finance and central banks all have unique roles to play to get us there
Climate risks and global value chains Extreme weather events will become more frequent as global temperatures rise. Rikard Forslid and Mark Sanctuary analyse the impact of the 2011 Thailand flood on Swedish firms Unprecedented opportunities Elena Verdolini considers the digital revolution and how you can have a just ecological transition, the grand challenge of our times
Scaling up sustainable finance Ulrich Volz and Dirk Schoenmaker discuss the climate investment and SDG financing gap To cap or not to cap Simone Tagliapietra, Georg Zachmann and Jeromin Zettelmeyer argue that a EU gas price cap would be counterproductive, but the reasons why it is supported widely must be addressed The European Climate Law and the ECB The EU has adopted the European Climate Law. Frank Elderson considers how the European Central Bank will be affected Reducing emissions and changing lives Pastoral describes the revolutionary new technology that reduces CO2 emissions and improves the lives of low-income farmers India’s climate action Nirupama Soundararajan and Arindam Goswami consider India’s commitment to net zero emissions, which puts the environment and sustainability centre stage in policymaking The grand energy bargain Europe needs to defeat Putin Ben McWilliams, Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann argue that deeper integration and accelerated investment will allow the EU to push the transition to cleaner and more affordable energy The social dimension of the climate transition Mehtap Akgüç, Kalina Arabadjieva and Béla Galgóczi outline some of the key labour and social effects of the EU’s Fit for 55 climate package and potential responses that should be considered
Achieving net zero emissions High-quality, reliable, and comparable gauges are lacking. Charlotte Gardes-Landolfini and Fabio Natalucci on how to close the data deficit The role of competition Georg Zachmann looks at the role of competition in the transition to climate neutrality, and argues for the regulation of production to best serve European consumers
Calling out the West The Russian subject is a sensitive one. Vijay Jayaraj considers India’s defence of the purchase of Russian oil amidst global energy volatility A green industrial revolution is coming Many question the usefulness of economic growth, concerned about the environment. Alessio Terzi believes the green transition can usher in prosperity for people and the planet No evidence of a climate crisis Allan MacRae considers climate change and finds that the empirical observations show very gentle warming and no evidence of a climate crisis Climate capital The BoE recently tested the UK’s largest banks and insurers on how prepared they are for financial risks caused by climate change. Sam Woods reviews the results REPowerEU: will the EU really make it work? Simone Tagliapietra believes acting together, the European Union can optimise its response to the energy crisis in all scenarios, but each country will have to make concessions Decarbonisation of the energy system Zachmann et al highlight that the current national energy and climate plans (NECPs) of EU countries are insufficient to achieve a cost-efficient pathway to EU wide climate neutrality by 2050 Climate finance and development Climate finance is treated as a form of aid support. Saliem Fakir argues that a shift is needed to investment support that would economically transform Africa India’s commitment to renewable energy India has seen a strong growth in renewable energy. Nirupama Soundararajan and Arindam Goswami discuss India's approach to tackle climate change Five key points Lisa Schipper, Vanesa Castán Broto and Winston Chow analyse new findings in the IPCC report on climate change impacts and warn that the risks will be magnified if warming is unchecked Trade and the most vulnerable Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala outlines her views on how climate priorities can be addressed through trade actions which prioritise the specific challenges faced by least developed countries The climate transition and its social dimension Mehtap Akgüç, Kalina Arabadjieva and Béla Galgóczi discuss the employment and distributional aspects of climate change mitigation in the European Union A European climate fund or a green golden rule Zsolt Darvas argues that spending and borrowing via a non-redistributive EU climate fund or under a green golden rule would be treated the same in the EU’s fiscal framework A cautionary tale Tom Harris discusses the City of Ottawa’s Climate Change Master Plan—and believes it is infeasible and damaging to Ottawans, the environment and human rights Goodbye Glasgow After COP26, and as the debate on whether Glasgow represents a success or a failure dies down, Klaas Lenaerts and Simone Tagliapietra ask what is next for global climate action Putting climate scenarios into action Sarah Breeden shares lessons we have learned from designing and applying climate scenarios, as well as some thoughts on their future, including the vital contribution research needs to make The green transition, finance and diversity: aim high, shoot higher René Karsenti and Apostolos Thomadakis argue that financing the energy transition requires a comprehensive shift in how the financial system works Can climate change be tackled without ditching economic growth? Klaas Lenaerts, Simone Tagliapietra and Guntram B Wolff explore whether decarbonisation and economic growth are compatible to reach net zero by 2050 Hydrogen development strategies: a global perspective The EU, UK, US, China and Japan all expect hydrogen to play a significant role in the decarbonisation of their economies. Alicia García Herrero, Simone Tagliapietra and Victor Vorsatz appraise their approaches Building the road to greener pastures Post-COVID, Mia Hoffmann, Ben McWilliams and Niclas Frederic Poitiers consider how the G20 can support the recovery with sustainable local infrastructure investment Europe’s climate moment of truth Simone Tagliapietra writes that with Fit for 55 Europe is the global first mover in turning a long-term net-zero goal into real-world policies, marking the entry of climate policy into the daily life of all businesses Tackling climate for real: progress and next steps Andrew Bailey talks about the work central banks have done on climate change, and how it will need to evolve Why I am a climate realist Vijay Jayaraj considers the background to the current climate agenda and believes that the policies being enacted will undermine economic wellbeing Navigating through hydrogen Ben McWilliams and Georg Zachmann argue that policymakers must address the need to displace carbon-intensive hydrogen with low-carbon hydrogen to meet the 2050 emissions target The geopolitics of the European Green Deal Mark Leonard, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Jeremy Shapiro, Simone Tagliapietra and Guntram Wolff consider the geopolitical consequences of the European Green Deal Climate change and central banking The ECB will contribute within its mandate to tackling climate change, acting in tandem with those responsible for climate policy, says Christine Lagarde Europe should promote a Climate Club Guntram Wolff argues that now is the time for Europe, the US and possibly China to create a global ‘Climate Club’ to implement tough climate action 2021 can be a climate breakthrough Simone Tagliapietra says the new US administration and the EU have a real opportunity, through a ‘global net zero coalition’, to remove some of the key bottlenecks in the global path to climate neutrality The challenge of climate finance Alexander Lehman and Mark Plant discuss low-carbon transition challenges and consider the EU agenda for coordinating with emerging markets Climate change: from awareness to action Tao Zhang believes that the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are interlinked, because some of the economic policy decisions taken today will affect climate outcomes tomorrow A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain Georg Zachman and Ben McWilliams argue that the EC should not make the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism into a must-have element of its climate policy The European Green Deal needs a reformed fiscal framework Europe needs to change behaviour and technologies. Grégory Claeys argues that to do so the EU needs to adapt its fiscal rules to encourage the transition How to make the European Green Deal work Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a European Green Deal to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. Grégory Claeys, Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann consider how this initiative could be made to work Demystifying carbon border adjustment for Europe’s green deal The European Green Deal has many critics. Guntram Wolff says some adjustments to the deal could make domestic manufacturers more carbon efficient and foreign producers more friendly to the environment TCFD: strengthening the foundations of sustainable finance Mark Carney says the financial sector must help the transition to ‘net zero’ (a neutral carbon footprint). Businesses need to keep improving their disclosure of climate risks How much ‘global warming’ isn’t global? Vijay Jayaraj and E Calvin Beisner debate two aspects of climate change: what caused the increase from the 1970s to the 1990s, and why has there been a slowdown since then Border carbon tariffs: giving up on trade to save the climate? Ursula von der Leyen plans to introduce a border carbon tax to avoid forcing EU companies to move their activities abroad. Henrik Horn and André Sapir ask if trade and climate preservation can coexist? The European Union energy transition Simone Tagliapietra, Georg Zachmann, Ottmar Edenhofer, Jean-Michel Glachant, Pedro Linares and Andreas Loeschel believe that the EU could benefit from deep decarbonisation irrespective of what other economies around the world do EU urgently needs to reverse its climate neutrality failure Immediate action is necessary to ensure the EU can become carbon-neutral by 2050. Simone Tagliapietra suggests it is attainable, but the momentum must not be lost Elections must put Europe on a path to a green future 90% of Europeans consider the environment to be a key issue for the quality of their life. Simone Tagliapietra says the time to act is now Avoiding the storm: climate change and the financial system Climate change poses significant risks to the economy and to the financial system, Sarah Breeden asserts, and calls for action today Deceptive Canadian climate report in context Tim Ball and Tom Harris consider the misleading climate change report, and argue that the global warming scare must be killed before the credibility of science is gone A new horizon The building blocks for a transition to a low-carbon economy are being put in place. Mark Carney believes further progress will be driven by coherent government policies Climate reality reassures India and China There have been no signs of dangerous global warming for nearly two decades. Vijay Jayaraj finds that the developing world needs reliable energy and the coal preference continues Nature, not humankind, controls climate It is a myth that our planet’s climate was essentially constant until we started burning fossil fuels. Jay Lehr and Tom Harris say former UN bureaucrat Christiana Figueres should take a climate course Panel counters UN climate conference Switching away from fossil fuels not justified, experts say. Tom Harris and Jay Lehr review panel discussions that presented a more realistic view than COP24 Blame it on winter weather Dr Madhav Khandekar and Tom Harris consider the Ottawa tornadoes and say that we should better prepare for extreme weather events A long-term climate protection strategy Angela Merkel considers climate change and believes that lasting growth and prosperity cannot be achieved if the whole package is not sustainable Do calls for ‘enhancement’ of Paris Agreement commitments make sense? It depends G7 leaders should ignore calls to strengthen emission reduction pledges, argues Tom Harris, and instead focus on adapting to climate change The shared response to climate change: turning momentum into action Sarah Breeden says climate change is a core financial risk for companies. It is a shared challenge for the private sector and financial authorities. And they need to take action together to respond to it Addressing Europe’s failure to clean up the transport sector Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann write that Europe would benefit from greater EU action on road transport to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure European decarbonisation targets A transition in thinking and action Mark Carney takes stock of the progress made in addressing climate-related financial risks since the Paris Agreement of late 2015 Hydrogen: the missing link for the energy transition Nicolas Kraus discusses hydrogen technology and how it can contribute to meeting the climate goals set for Europe What level of ‘carbon’ tax is appropriate? Tracy Miller considers the social cost of carbon and finds that the government should not tax CO2 Can Industry 4.0 save the planet? The use of technologies, techniques and business models linked to industry 4.0 will be essential to achieve a low carbon transition, and the the public sector will play a key role, argue Tomas Wyns and Martin Porter Climate Action Archive To link to archive articles click here

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