Discussion Paper

EU Climate Policies: friend, foe or bystander to forest restoration and carbon sinks?

EU Climate Governance for restoring degraded forests

Publication: Document
Citation: Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils; Ana Frelih-Larsen (2017): EU climate policies: friend, foe or bystander to forest restoration and carbon sinks? EU Climate Governance for restoring degraded forests. Ecologic Institute: Berlin.

Next to steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere is essential to keep average global temperature increases to 1.5°C, and well below 2°C. At this point in time, there is effectively only one realistic and sustainable way to help remove large amounts of CO₂ from the atmosphere: restoring degraded forests. A strong and reliable governance framework is a pre-condition to restore degraded forests at the necessary scale. A new Ecologic paper discusses how to design such a governance framework for the EU. The paper is available for download.

New Ecologic Paper: EU policies to make forests better for the climate

Happy Birthday, Paris Agreement! Here is how the EU will be celebrating

State of play on the negotiations on the Energy Union Governance Regulation on three core elements of the Paris Agreement

Year 2017

Publication:Document

A new note by the Ecologic Institute summarizes why a quantitative, binding and ambitious EU long-term climate target is essential for the EU to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement. This long term target should be supported by a robust review mechanism. The note is available for download.

EU Climate Policies for the 21st Century

The Case for a Strong EU Long-term Target and a Robust Review

Year 2017

Publication:Report

This paper analyzes the proposal of the European Commission for a new regulation on the "Governance of the Energy Union". The analysis is framed around two questions: Is the proposed system adequate for supporting the implementation of the 2030 targets? Will it help Europe to get on a long-term pathway to a zero carbon economy? The paper focuses on the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) as well as compliance and contains concrete proposals in legal language on how to improve the Commission's proposal. This paper builds on related papers by the Ecologic Institute and takes inspiration from intense discussions with colleagues in the ECF Governance cluster.

Governance of the Energy Union

Assessment of the Commission Proposal for a Governance Regulation

Year 2017

Project

<p>In 2017, Ecologic Institute is continuing to analyze key legislative proposals and political processes related to the 2030 energy and climate policy framework of the European Union (EU). This includes specifically the proposed regulations for the post-2020 Effort Sharing and for the Governance of the Energy Union. This work is being done in support of and as a contribution to an initiative by the European Climate Foundation (ECF), with the aim to advance the overall understanding of the options for future EU energy and climate governance in collaboration with many fellow research institutions.</p>

Political and Legal Analysis on 2030 Climate and Energy Governance & Effort Sharing

Jan - Dec 2017

Language: English
Authorship: Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf

Dr. Ana Frelih-Larsen
Funding: European Climate Foundation (ECF), International
Year: 2017
Dimension: 35 pp.
Project: Political and Legal Analysis on 2030 Climate and Energy Governance & Effort Sharing
Project ID: 2134
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

1 Introduction
2 Commission Proposal for a Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union
2.1 EU-wide targets for restoring degraded Forests and removing CO₂ through enhancing natural sinks
2.2 National targets or Member State pledges to contribute to EU targets?
2.3 Compliance
2.4 Review and target adjustment
3 Forest restoration in existing EU land management policies – Biodiversity Policy, Forest Strategy, Rural Development Programmes, and LULUCF
3.1 Biodiversity Policy
3.2 Forest Strategy
3.3 Rural Development Programmes
3.4 Proposal for LULUCF Regulation
4 References
Keywords: Climate

EU

EU climate policy, negative emissions, EU forestry policy

Europe