Publications

Backloading and reforms of the EU ETS: on 10th December, the EU Parliament voted the backloading proposal. The vote of the Council is scheduled on 17th December. The postponement of EUA will be made in 2014 and in 2015 (not in 2013). 2030 climate and energy package: the EC is planning to release its White […]

By Nicolas Berghmans and Emilie Alberola Since 2005, 1,453 power and combined heat and power (CHP) generation plants have participated in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, or EU ETS, which requires them to comply with an annual CO2 emission cap set by the European Commission. Thermal power plants that use coal (bituminous coal, lignite, […]

Backloading and reforms of the EU ETS: on 10th December, the EU Parliament voted the backloading proposal. The vote of the Council is scheduled on 17th December. The postponement of EUA will be made in 2014 and in 2015 (not in 2013). 2030 climate and energy package: the EC is planning to release its White […]

By Johan Tyszler et Cécile Bordier,I4CE Le gouvernement a annoncé le 9 juillet 2013 la généralisation des compteurs électriques communicants sur le territoire. L’introduction des compteurs communicants devrait permettre une meilleure gestion du réseau, notamment liée à la part croissante des énergies renouvelables dans la production d’électricité. Les économies d’électricité restent difficiles à prévoir car […]

By Olivier GLOAGUEN and Emilie ALBEROLA It has been repeatedly said that the economic slowdown that began in 2008 largely explains the fall in carbon emissions recorded in Europe since the introduction of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In fact, the European Union stated this very clearly in its initial report on […]

Backloading and reforms of the EU ETS: the Commission specified that further structural reform proposals would not be put forward till the EU agrees on backloading plans. 2030 climate and energy package: the Commission will release a communication before the end of the year but there are little expectations for legislative proposals before the EU […]

Forthcoming free allowance allocations: the European Commission will allocate 6.6 billion EUA for free to industrial installations, which is 11.5% less than what was initially demanded by Member states. The EUA price stabilised between €4 and €5: despite the uncertainty surrounding the political issue of “backloading”, the EUA price remained just below the €5 per […]

By Johan Tyszler, Cécile Bordier and Alexia Leseur The National Debate on Energy Transition in France highlighted issues relating to the social acceptability of the measures in question, and especially the inclusion of fuel poverty. However, the wide range of determining factors for fuel poverty (high energy prices, poor living conditions, and limited financial resources) […]

To establish a climate and energy policy in the EU in 2030, I4CE addresses three main recommendations to the European Commission: (1) Establish a binding, single and ambitious CO2 emission reduction target of at least 40% in 2030. (2) Put the EU ETS as the central and non-residual instrument aimed at promoting cost-effective reductions in […]

By Oliver Sartor, Thomas Spencer Poland is a particularly carbon intensive economy. This has created concern that it may be particularly exposed to carbon leakage. However, there is an absence of robust and transparent empirical research on carbon leakage risks in Poland. This study aims at filling this gap by assessing the impact of EU […]

The EU ETS verified emissions: 1,950 MtCO2 in 2012, i.e. a 2% fall compared with 2011 and a 13.5% fall compared with 2008. Phase 2 compliance: an excess amount of 1,425 Mt including the use of 1,059 million international credits. Backloading: the European Parliament’s ENVI Commission will vote again on 19 June. Competitiveness: the European […]

By Oliver Sartor and Benoît Leguet, I4CE Is the French energy transition compatible with economic growth and a “competitive” French economy? Our answer is “yes, with some conditions”. The French economy is better positioned today for a meaningful energy transition than it has been for over 40 years. At the level of the macro-economy, a […]

Achieving the “energy transition”, it is necessary to ask how individual investments support or hinder progress towards a low-carbon, energy-efficient future. This requires a a systemic approach – or “scope 4” analysis. As demonstrated by the Keystone XL Oil pipeline project in North America, even when individual pieces of infrastructure emit relatively low levels of […]

Backloading was rejected by the European Parliament on 16 April and referred to the Parliament’s ENVI Commission. A new plenary session vote has been scheduled for early July. On ICE Futures Europe, 52% of the whole monthly volume of the daily spot contract has been traded on April the 16th. Structural reforms: discussion at the […]

By Frederic Baron, Valentin Bellassen and Mariana Deheza In a framework where no common forestry policy exists at the EU level (such as the Common Agriculture Policy for agriculture), this report lists EU policies that have an impact on climate change mitigation that can be achieved by the forestry sector. With the objective of analyzing […]

One of the most controversial changes to the EU ETS in Phase 3 (2013-2020) has been the introduction of emissions-performance benchmarks for determining free allocations to non-electricity producers. Phases 1 and 2 used National Allocation Plans (NAPs). For practical reasons NAPs were drawn up by each Member State, but this led to problems, including over-generous […]

By Frédéric OURADOU, Florine WONG, Daniel DELALANDE and Romain Morel The 2013 edition of “Key Figures on Climate” has been prepared within the context of the 18th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP18) held in Doha from 26 November to 7 December 2012. This latest version has been slightly revised from the 2012 […]

By Claudine Foucherot and Valentin Bellassen … counting only emissions of methane and nitrous oxide from cattle, crops and pasture. These emissions have two characteristics making their inclusion in the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) difficult: they are diffuse and depend on a range of fairly complex pedoclimatic factors. Taking into consideration the whole […]

The Carbon Market Report published last November by the European Commission launched a debate on structural measures to sustainably address the EU ETS’s large surplus and sets out six options for measures which could do so: (a) increasing the EU reduction target to 30% in 2020, (b) retiring a number of allowances in phase 3, […]

By Nicolas Berghmans, Oliver Sartor and Nicolas Stephan, I4CE The European Commission is inviting stakeholders to respond to six proposals it has laid down for structural reforms of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). We identify three main weaknesses that affect the functioning of the EU ETS: insufficient credibility of long-term scarcity, the consequences […]