28 August 2024

The Green Brief – Climate litigation week in Brussels

Hello, and welcome to the Green Brief, which brings you a roundup of energy and environment news from across Europe. We are freshening up the Green Brief’s format – let us know what you think via digital@euractiv.com.

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Here come the climate lawyers

It is climate litigation week in Brussels. In the past 24 hours, environmental NGOs have taken the EU Commission to court on two separate counts.

The first case argues that the EU’s 2030 climate targets are insufficiently ambitious, while the second claims that sustainable finance rules are too ready to label aviation and shipping investments as ‘green’.

Nathan Canas sets out the two cases.

Donagh Cagney explores the implications for the future of the Green Deal.

Finally Donagh Cagney and Giada Santana chat about what it all means in Euractiv’s ‘Today in the EU’ podcast, available here (and wherever you get your podcasts).

Commissioner chatter

Ursula von der Leyen is busy interviewing Commissioner candidates this week, and speculation is mounting about who will get what.

Not all candidates are being coy – the Czech nominee has made clear his interest in the Energy Commissioner role – while signals from Athens indicate that a Greek Transport Commissioner could be on the cards.

It is wildfire season

With the Balkans, Greece, and the Portuguese island of Madeira recently hit by wildfires, a comprehensive EU response seems more needed than ever.

There is just one problem – Europe can’t build firefighting aircraft, and the one supplier isn’t promising any deliveries before 2027/28. Paul Messad and Nathan Canas have the story.

Europe’s clean industrial strategy latest

Nikolaus J. Kurmayer has the latest on Europe’s attempt to build a clean tech industry at home.

The saving of a high-profile factors suggests that PV manufacturing in Europe may not be dead after all. And a crucial shipyard for Europe’s offshore renewable ambitions gets a bail out from the German government.

Biodiversity COP16: only seven EU Member States have submitted their biodiversity strategies. In the run-up to COP16 on biological diversity in Bogotá at the end of October, countries must submit their updated biodiversity plans and strategies (NBSAPs).

The new plans should reflect the new international targets from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in December 2022.

The framework calls for restoring 30% of degraded terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030 and protecting 30% of terrestrial and marine areas.

In the EU, only France, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Hungary, Spain, Italy and the EU itself have submitted their plans. The other parties are at least requested “to communicate national targets reflecting, as applicable, all the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” UN statutes say.

[Paul Messad]

EU pays Russia another €400 million for fossil fuels. In the second week of August, EU countries bought €200 million worth of pipeline gas – going to Austria, Hungary and Slovakia – and slightly less pipeline-bound crude oil, also mostly going to refineries in Eastern Europe, according to research by the Centre for Research on Clean Energy and Air (CREA).

[Nikolaus J. Kurmayer]

What really works? A research paper by Germany’s Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and others, published in Science, found that out of more than 1000 climate policies surveyed, a mere 63 significantly reduced CO2 emissions.

CO2 pricing was found to be king among the winning policies. “Taxation is a notable exception in effectively causing large emission breaks alone,” the paper writes. One observed likened it to the glue that keeps climate policy together.

Their work, and how it was interpreted, is not without its critics. The methodology, which focuses on large, short-term impacts, “ignores many policies, including ones that drive low-CO2 investments over time,” said Emil Dimanchev, an indepedent energy researcher, on X.

He adds that the paper fails to account for second-order effects outside a given country, citing Germany’s generous renewables schemes that are credited with reducing costs for solar and wind around the world.

“It is important that we do not conclude from this paper that regulations and subsidies are ineffective without CO2 pricing,” the researcher stressed.

[Nikolaus J. Kurmayer]

Germany’s Scholz speaks out against quick PFAS ban. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has weighed in on ongoing discussions concerning a ban of PFAS, the so-called ‘forever chemicals’. Berlin will “insist in the EU that there is a pragmatic approach that does not hinder Germany’s industrial development,” Scholz said on Monday (26 August), speaking at a Chemical Park of company Evonik in Marl, as reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

PFAS would be indispensable for many processes in the modern chemical industry, as well as for renewable energy, and are “not yet specifically replaceable,” Scholz said.

[Jonathan Packroff]

Nuclear in Czechia: Westinghouse protests against the South Korean KHNP bid. In a press release on Monday (26 August), the American builder announced that it had filed an appeal with the Czech Anti-Monopoly Office against the July decision to select its South Korean competitor’s bid to build two AP-1000 reactors at the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

As this offer uses Westinghouse licence technology, the American builder claims to veto its export. “Only Westinghouse has the legal right to obtain the required approval from the US government to export its technology,” it says.

Last week’s talks between the South Korean and American presidential offices “to smoothly resolve the dispute” do not seem to have appeased the US company’s anger.

In 2022, Westinghouse took a legal case in the US, seeking to block KHNP from selling two reactors to Poland on similar grounds to its Czech appeal. The lawsuit was dismissed, a decision which Westinghouse is currently appealing.

French utility EDF, who also competed for the Czech contract, confirmed that they too are contesting the South-Korean offer. “EDF seeks to ensure that the tender process adheres to the principles of fair trade and transparency,” the French company said in a statement, adding that its offer remained valid.

[Paul Messad]

OSLO. Security services say Norway’s energy industry faces threats from Russia. Security services from seven European countries have briefed Norwegian energy executives and officials, including from Equinor, Europe’s largest gas supplier, about what they see as Russian threats to critical infrastructure. Read more.

ROME. Italian government issues ultimatum to car giant over unfulfilled commitments. Italy’s Enterprise and Made in Italy Minister, Adolfo Urso, has threatened to withhold recovery fund money from car giant Stellantis unless it provides answers over delayed projects and investments, as tensions between the company and the ruling government continue to escalate. Read more.

LISBON. EU Commission ready to send more resources to fight Madeira fires. The EU Commission is ready to mobilise additional resources to help fight the fires on the island of Madeira despite the difficult conditions, the Commission said in a statement on Thursday. Read more.

LONDON. UK faces legal action over new North Sea oil and gas licences. Britain’s decision to issue dozens of new oil and gas exploration licences is being challenged in court by a marine conservation organisation, which argues ministers unlawfully failed to consider the impact on marine life. Read more.

Ukrainian Independence Day: Ban Russian fossil fuels now. By Svitlana Romanko

[Edited by Martina Monti]

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