EAERE at COP25
EAERE had three official delegates at the UN COP25 in Madrid this year: Jos Delbeke, Chairman of the EAERE Policy Outreach Committee (POC); Phoebe Koundouri, President Elect for 2020 and Aldo Ravazzi Douvan, also member of the POC.
In addition to the delegation, many of the more than 1200 members of EAERE went to COP in representation of their institutions, taking part to events and negotiations. In particular, Prof. Lucas Bretschger from ETH Zurich gave a keynote speech on December 10, 2019 titled “New Perspectives on Climate Finance”:
Key Note: Lucas Bretschger, Professor, Center of Economic Research, ETH Zurich
Panel Discussion with:
• Stefan Schwager: member of Swiss delegation/ head of environmental financing
• H.E. Ambassador Janine Felson, member of Belize delegation and AOSIS Chair team, finance co-coordinator
• Barbara Schnell, Head of Sector Policy Department, KfW Development Bank
• Christoph Bals, Policy Director, Germanwatch
• Marte Borhaug, Aviva Investors
Moderation by Anna Stuenzi and Julia Bingler (ETH Zurich)
Watch the video of the keynote speech here
SOER 2020 – State and Outlook on the European Environment
The SOER report is published by the EEA every five years. SOER 2020 is the 6th SOER published by the EEA since 1995. Prepared in close collaboration with the EEA’s European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), it offers science-based insights on the huge and complex challenges the global community is now faced with, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and air and water pollution. Although EU environment and climate policies have made great advancements in the last years, Europe is still facing important problems in areas such as biodiversity loss, resource use, climate change impacts and environmental risks to health and well-being. We need to deliver more ambitious and quick responses to such challenges to be able to achieve the long-term sustainability goals to which we have committed. The upcoming decade is decisive in determining our opportunities to change the current trends.
Source: EEA
UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019
The tenth edition of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report provides the latest assessment of scientific studies on current and estimated future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and compares these with the emission levels bearable for the world to progress on a least-cost pathway to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. This Report wants to fill in the gap between where we are now in terms of emissions, and where we need to be. Reflecting on the ten-year anniversary, a summary report, entitled Lessons from a decade of emissions gap assessments, was published in September for the Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit.
Source: UNEP website
International Energy Workshop (IEW) 2020
In the light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the committee of IEW directors and Fraunhofer hosts has decided unanimously to cancel the meeting to promote safety and help contain the virus.
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The 39th edition of the International Energy Workshop (IEW) will be hosted by the Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg, Germany, on 29 June – 01 July, 2020.
BEED – BELGIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS DAY 2020
Deadline for submissions: December 8, 2019
More information on the website
Government of Cyprus to Start Consultation on Green Fiscal Reform
The 20th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation, organised by the Cyprus University of Technology, was held in Cyprus on 26-27 September 2019. GCET is the leading global forum for exchanges on the principles and practice of environmental taxation and other market-based instruments for promoting the transition to low-carbon and resource-efficient societies. The conference started with a talk by the Finance Minister of Cyprus Mr. Harris Georgiades, who declared that the government of Cyprus will open a public consultation in 2020 about the implementation of a green fiscal reform, with the aim to legally adopt this reform from 2021 onwards. Cyprus is among the EU Member states that are not on track to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments up to 2030. The proposal for a green tax reform, a key part of which is the gradual adoption of a carbon tax on all sectors of the Cypriot economy that are not subject to the EU ETS, is being prepared by the Finance Ministry of Cyprus together with Prof. Theodoros Zachariadis of the Cyprus University of Technology, EAERE’s Country Representative in Cyprus.