31 January, 2008
EU policymakers who are serious about the possibility of a border tax adjustment tariff to penalise countries which do not care about climate change, should have a look at the recent report of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). The study indicates that such measures can be justified before the World Trade Organisation.… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
28 January, 2008
One week after it presented its new energy/climate change package (see my post of 23 Jan), the EU is holding its annual Sustainable Energy week. Just as in last week’s proposals, the use of renewable energy will be in the spotlight. Two sessions on Monday will be dealing with the role of renewables in respectively… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Business and climate change, Climate change, energy security, European Union |
25 January, 2008
Commission President Barroso today (25 Jan) expressed his support for a Davos declaration on the Millennium Development Goals and promised to “discuss with Member States the importance of scaling up aid budgets”. By putting this issue in the context of “financial aid”, developed countries can feel good about themselves. They are helping (or at least… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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ecological footprint, sustainability, sustainable development |
One year after it presented its first climate/energy package, the European Commission published [press release] on Wednesday 23 January five further proposals dealing with the strengthening and extension of its greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (ETS); the individual commitments of member states to reduce non-ETS-sector emissions by 2020; the support mechanisms to produce electricity from… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Carbon capture and storage, Climate change, European Commission, European Union, Global Warming, renewable energy |
22 January, 2008
One of the lessons I took back home after my week’s stay in California is that there is a lot happening in the USA on “sustainability entrepreneurship”. During an inspiring dinner meeting with some friends of the Global Footprint Network, we discussed about several exciting start-ups which have introduced “ecological constraints thinking” into their business… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
“There is no silver bullet to solve the climate/energy crisis” is one of theses phrases which can be heard over and over again in each and every energy debate in Brussels. Most of the times, the phrase is used by someone who wants to push his or her own silver bullet, be it nuclear, CCS… » read more
Posted by PAR
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Climate change, Energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, Uncategorized |
[As you will have seen, there has been very little activity on this blog for a week. That’s because I was in Oakland, California working with the Global Footprint Network with whom I will be opening a new office in Brussels in the very near future. I am quite happy to be able to work… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Climate change, European Commission, European emissions trading scheme |
11 January, 2008
As one of the world’s biggest economic sectors, banks should play a leading role in the mitigation and adaptation actions needed to stop global warming. But a new report presented on 9 January by CERES, a US-based coalition of investors and environmental groups, shows that the banking sector’s climate actions to date are only “the… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Business and climate change, Corporate sustainability, Global Warming |
10 January, 2008
A system-wide financial crisis, food insecurity, supply chain disruptions and climate and energy chaos are the four major global risks for the coming year according to a report released on 9 January by the World Economic Forum. The report “Global Risks 2008” comes two weeks before the yearly WEF meeting in Davos and highlights most… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Climate change, energy security, global governance, sustainable development |
6 January, 2008
The victory of Barack Obama in last week’s Iowa elections came as a big surprise for the EU elites who had already put all their money on a new Clinton Presidency. If Obama continues his winning streak on Tuesday on New Hampshire, European policymakers and lobbyists will have to learn more about the positions of… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
