Latest news with #AgnèsPannier-Runacher
Euronews
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Governments losing patience with European Commission over delayed 2040 climate target proposal
ADVERTISEMENT Several EU governments have demanded the European Commission table an overdue proposal for a 2040 emissions reduction target, the missing milestone on the bloc's pathway to climate-neutrality by mid-century, though a few remain sceptical. Under a law adopted in 2021, the EU is committed to net-zero by 2050, after bringing its carbon emissions to 55% below 1990 levels by the end of this decade. The missing element is a 2040 target, which the EU executive was supposed to table last year, and recently removed from its provisional agenda for the coming weeks. On the way into an EU Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, French environment minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said she was unconcerned about the delay. 'I have the ambition, and I'll say it again, that we should set the goal before Belem,' Pannier-Runacher said in reference to the COP30 climate summit scheduled to take place in Brazil in November. 'But this objective must be solid and based on trajectories that are achievable.' The French minister was speaking after taking part in a breakfast discussion among 19 pro 'green growth' governments, hosted by Portugal and attended by the EU's climate and environment commissioners Wopke Hoekstra and Jessika Roswall. Hungary seeks veto Hungary remained sceptical, however, with minister Anikó Raisz restating its long-standing position that the decision was of such import that it could only be made by the unanimous agreement of EU heads of government – meaning the country's premier Viktor Orbán could wield a veto. The target as envisaged under the EU's climate law would be subject to the usual legislative process, where support from a qualified majority of governments – and the European Parliament – would be sufficient. Also at the Portuguese breakfast was Germany's Steffi Lemke, who while acknowledging a swing to the right in recent elections meant this was likely to be her last EU Council summit, said she saw no room for backtracking on climate action. 'Those who hesitate and those who want a rollback – incidentally, for reasons completely different from market stabilisation or security interests, who simply want to return to the old fossil world – must not be allowed to have a say, especially in this situation,' Lemke said. During the summit, European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera opened a discussion on the climate target and the recently proposed Clean Industrial Deal, a plan to boost European manufacturing and competitiveness in tandem with furthering the energy transition and industrial decarbonisation. Mixed signals over level of ambition 'The Clean Industrial Deal offers certainty and predictability to investors and combines the different tools and conditions that can create a holistic approach on how to facilitate the way forward. to meet our climate targets, both what has been agreed by 2030 but also the target that we need to put forward for 2040,' Ribera said – without indicating when the proposal would be tabled. Several countries – among them Czechia and Slovakia – shared Hungary's doubts about the target, especially the 90% cut recommended as a minimum by the EU's independent climate advisory board and to which the executive recommitted in its Clean Industrial Deal communication. Related Brussels recommends new EU climate target: a 90% cut of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 Spain – in whose socialist government Ribera was a minister before moving to the Commission in December – supported the 90% goal and demanded a legislative bill 'as soon as possible', a position echoed by Finland. France reiterated its support for a target, but without explicitly backing the 90% goal. 'The 2040 objective has to be based on realistic measures for all sectors, in particular for European industry,' Pannier-Runacher said during the public debate. The Netherlands also wanted a 'swift and realistic' proposal, while Germany – again without putting a number on it – said the 2040 target should be linked directly to a new one for deploying renewable energy. ADVERTISEMENT Italy did not mention the 2040 target, but described the Commission's 'simplification' drive to ease regulation on businesses as being of 'decisive importance' and that it should 'speed up these efforts' if it wants to boost competitiveness. The 'ball is in the Commission's court' Whether or not they agree on a 90% target, there was a general push for the Commission to get the proposal onto the table so the EU Council and Parliament can get to work on it. Poland chaired the summit as holder of the rotating EU Council presidency. Environment minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska told reporters at the end of the summit that there was no unanimity, but ministers had 'managed to agree as far as the general directions are concerned'. The ball was now in the Commission's court, the Polish minister said. Environment commissioner Roswall recalled that the EU executive remained committed to following the advice of the EU's scientific panel. ADVERTISEMENT 'The 90% emission reduction target for 2040 is in the political guidelines that we have decided on, and we plan to stay the course,' she said. But as to when the proposal will be tabled, all Roswall said was that it was 'coming in the near future'.
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
France demands EU restricts CO2 emissions price, document shows
BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - France has revived calls for the European Union to restrict prices in its carbon market by fixing a "corridor" to limit volatile price movements, a government document seen by Reuters showed. The EU emissions trading system is the bloc's main CO2-cutting policy, which requires power generators and industrial manufacturers to buy a CO2 permit for every tonne of CO2 they emit. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. The scheme creates a financial incentive to pollute less, and raises revenues that go towards CO2-cutting projects - but it has long incurred criticism from countries including Poland, which has complained that financial speculators are driving volatile price moves in the market. France has revived concerns over the carbon price, and will propose in a closed-door meeting of EU countries' ministers on Thursday that the EU needed to step in to stabilise the price. A French government paper, seen by Reuters, called for the EU to "establish an ETS price corridor defined in coherence with the Union's emission reduction target and to review the functioning of the market stability reserve to correct its imperfections". A price corridor would set minimum and maximum price limits, restricting price movements to trade within this range. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, French climate minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said the EU needed to give "long-term pricing signals to companies so that they can adapt and anticipate". France will seek support among other countries on Thursday, but officials told Reuters some - including the Czech Republic - are already behind the idea. A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the French demand. Currently, the EU is not due to review the ETS policy until 2026. Benchmark EU carbon prices were trading at around 70 euros per tonne of CO2 on Thursday, having mirrored decreases in gas prices in the last few months. ETS prices had breached 80 eur/t earlier this year, but have not returned to anywhere near the highs of more than 100 eur/t seen in 2023. Analysts however forecast prices could rise to over 100 euros a ton by the end of the decade as supply of caron permits becomes tighter.
Local France
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Local France
'Protect the population': France unveils plan to prepare for 4C global warming
France's Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, on Monday presented the government's finalised third plan to 'adapt the territory' to global warming. The Plan National d'Adaptation au Changement Climatique (National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, and sometimes known as Pnacc), is almost 400 pages long, and includes over 50 measures aimed at preparing the country for a 4C increase in temperatures by 2100. The Pnacc was first created as a fund in 1995 to help local authorities, small businesses and private individuals finance the work needed to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters. What does the plan include? There are five main areas of focus. The first is protecting the population, and it includes steps related to protecting people from increased forest fires and strengthening protections for workers exposed to heatwaves, as well as a study to learn about avoiding a drop in air quality during heatwaves and steps to modify housing renovation rules. Another measure within 'protecting the population' was broadly 'developing a culture of risk awareness to prepare the French population to cope with changes in natural hazards due to climate change'. The second area is 'ensuring the resilience of local authorities, infrastructures and essential services'. This emphasises steps to protect public transportation from the impacts of global warming, as well as studies to determine how a 4C temperature rise would affect health services. The third is 'adapting human activities'. This includes measures related to food and energy production. For example, support for farms and the agri-food industry 'in the face of climatic hazards and to initiate the transition to resilient, low-carbon models'. The fourth is 'protecting France's natural and cultural heritage', especially the country's most visited sites like the Eiffel Tower and Mont Saint Michel. One measure outlined would involve creating a climate risk map for all of the country's main heritage sites. And the fifth is 'mobilising the nation's forces to successfully adapt to climate change', which outlines the ways French public services would integrate climate response into their missions. Within this section, there is also a specific measure related to using AI to help with climate change response. For instance, training it to judge environmental conditions (ex soil humidity) to offer a probability estimate for the next extreme heatwave up to a month before it occurs. How have people responded to the plan? Thus far, the reaction has been mixed, despite calls from government bodies, like the Cour des Comptes to better recognise the urgency of the climate crisis and respond with a 'a wall of investment'. Stakeholders like the France Assureurs association have insisted the budget proposals are insufficient, Franceinfo reported. Green groups, including France Nature environnement (FNE) told the French press that although the plan contains a 'number of good intentions' how they will be financed and operated remains unknown. In terms of funding, Pannier-Runacher announced that the government had earmarked around €600 million for adaptation to climate change, according to l'Humanité. Half of that would come from funding already allocated under previous PM Michel Barnier's administration, while another €260 million would come from the 'Green Fund' meant to help local authorities. Anticipated since the end of 2023 as part of the strategy of former PM Elisabeth Borne, the Pnacc has long been touted as one of the major weapons to combat global warming. However, it was constantly postponed in line with various political deadlines, until the dissolution of June 2024, which once again postponed it.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Controversial new EU plans face nuclear roadblock — here's how it could impact global electrical grids
In the European Union, the political divide between pro-nuclear member states and the governments fighting atomic energy isn't new. Only now, it's hampering efforts by the 27-member bloc to plan for a new renewable energy target, Reuters reported. Between the countries backing nuclear power to reduce the energy sector's heat-trapping pollution and those hammering home that the toxic waste it produces makes it everything but "green," the EU's new renewables goal for 2040 is unlikely to win unanimous support. French ecological transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told Reuters that at a recent meeting of 15 EU countries — 12 of them being part of a pro-nuclear alliance — ministers had expressed concerns that the target excluded nuclear power. As quoted by the news agency, Sweden energy minister Ebba Busch, who attended the meeting, asked: "Is it more important to have a specific target for renewables ... where you can tamper with statistics, for example, by closing down nuclear power plants? Or is the main target fossil-free and clean energy production in Europe?" Of all the concerns that arise over atomic energy, safety often comes first. Opponents fear that the radioactive waste will have far-reaching consequences on the environment and human health; however, only a small volume of such waste is long-lived and highly radioactive, according to the World Nuclear Association. With the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents anchored in collective memory, they also serve as reminders that serious incidents can happen despite strict safety requirements. More recently, critics have questioned Europe's reliance for nuclear fuel or uranium on external suppliers like Russia, per Montel News. These arguments have convinced many — and without mentioning the elevated cost and duration of building a nuclear plant. On the other hand, proponents recall that the risk of accidents is extremely low, and the sector as a whole is one of the most secure. Besides, nuclear power provides a reliable electricity supply at a time when geopolitical conflicts are reshaping energy markets and countries scrambling to meet national needs. As the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre explains, it is finally a low-carbon alternative energy source to fossil fuels, whose phase-out the world struggles to agree on, one climate summit after the other. While France makes plans for additional nuclear reactors, Germany has chosen to fire up old coal plants. While Bulgaria and Poland bet on expanding their nuclear fleet, Spain and Switzerland get ready to phase theirs out. Which of these factors would most effectively convince you to support nuclear energy projects in your area? Lower energy bills Safety and reliability More local jobs Environmental benefits Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. According to a senior official, governments with enough votes to block the EU from passing the renewable energy target said that they would not support it if it excluded nuclear. "I think there's enough, in terms of a blocking minority," the official told Reuters. Dan Jorgensen, the EU energy commissioner, said that renewables and nuclear power would both play a role in Europe's energy policy, but they should not be mixed into one objective as it wouldn't be "a wise way to do it," according to Reuters. "I think we need to maintain the definitions that we already have in our renewable target." If a reconciliation of European governments over nuclear power appears impossible, their sole reliance on renewables is, too. Among solutions, the Atlantic Council is proposing that EU member states sign a peace pact, or "a political neutrality agreement … that affirms that each state is free to choose its own energy mix, as is defined by the treaties, stops interference in these policies, and affirms there is no right to block member states wishing to launch, expand, or simply conserve their nuclear capacity." Meanwhile, all sides will also likely have to acknowledge the role of both nuclear and renewable energy in reaching pollution reduction targets because — to answer Busch — the main priority is and should remain a fossil fuel-free Europe. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
