European institutions and member states in the mid-June session agreed on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive, the laws which set out the overall policy for the production of energy from renewable sources and the promotion of energy efficiency measures in the 28-bloc.
Over the last few years, an ever-increasing number of lawsuits have seen citizens and associations bringing their governments to the courts to enforce climate change commitments or to push for more ambitious policy goals to reduce emissions and adapt to impacts of the changing climate.
There are growing threats to oceans, yet positive trends are kicking in, and prospects may be more optimistic than the current figures suggests. “We have a plan,” – United Nations Special Envoy Peter Thomson explains to Foresight – “and we are working to put it into practice.”
From immediate emergencies to slower onset problems, Small Island States are those most affected by the combined impacts of climate change and the degradation of oceans’ health. Sitting at the international negotiations they claim the keywords for the future: consistency, ambition. And urgency.
At a key meeting in May, the Council of the European Union formally adopted the regulation on emission reductions by the EU Member States from 2021 to 2030, also known as the Effort Sharing Regulation.
