Blog Post
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has set a new destination for EU climate policy: a 55% emissions reduction by 2030. This is a good and necessary step on the way to climate neutrality by 2050, but getting there will not be easy, and Europe should prepare for a bumpy road ahead.
External Publication
Cambridge University Press just published the new book of Bruegel research fellow Simone Tagliapietra, Global Energy Fundamentals. It provides a rigorous and concise guide to the current status and future prospects of the global energy system.
Blog Post
On 21 July, EU leaders agreed on a €1.8 trillion package that should boost the recovery after the COVID-19 crisis, but also contribute to the advancement of key EU societal objectives, starting with the climate transition. In this blog post we assess the green ambitions of the package and evaluate its consistency with the European Green Deal.
Policy Brief
In the wake of COVID-19, some economic recovery policies will help green the economy – for example, energy renovation of buildings. But there are limits to the share of stimulus that can be explicitly green. The European Union should therefore also green the fiscal consolidation by setting out the path to much higher carbon prices than today. This would guide investment and provide revenues to help the fiscal consolidation.
Blog Post
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, expanding access to electricity has contributed to increasing labour market participation and transforming the economy away from agricultural activities.
Blog Post
The European Parliament and the Council still have an opportunity to improve the Just Transition Fund by refocusing it on social support and basing fund allocations on more granular information that takes into account not only countries’ needs but also their green ambitions.
External Publication
On 14 January 2020, the European Commission published its proposal for a Just Transition Mechanism, intended to provide support to territories facing serious socioeconomic challenges related to the transition towards climate neutrality. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of how the EU can best ensure a ‘just transition’ in all its territories and for all its citizens with the tools at its disposal. It provides an overview and a critical assessment of the Commission's proposal, and suggests possible amendments based on best practices from other just-transition initiatives.
Opinion
Four guiding principles can help ensure a well designed EU equity fund.
Policy Brief
COVID-19 has triggered a severe recession and policymakers in European Union countries are providing generous, largely indiscriminate, support to companies. As the recession gets deeper, a more comprehensive strategy is needed. This should be based on four principles: viability of supported entities, fairness, achieving societal goals, and giving society a share in future profits. The effort should be structured around equity and recovery funds with borrowing at EU level.
Blog Post
This oil crisis will be solved only by a pick-up in global oil demand, once lockdowns are lifted and the economy is restarted.
Opinion
Policymakers need to think long-term and start planning a broad investment scheme to reboot the European economy.