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Europe leads the fight against climate change
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The Earth is rapidly getting warmer, threatening serious and even catastrophic disruption to our societies and to the natural environment on which we depend. Over the course of the 20th century the average temperature increased by around 0.6 C globally, by almost 1 C in Europe and by no less than 5 C in the Arctic. This man-made warming is already having many disruptive effects around the globe.
Sea levels are rising as a result of melting glaciers and ice sheets, threatening to flood low-lying communities. Extreme weather conditions; floods, droughts, storms are becoming more severe, more frequent and more costly in some parts of the world. And many endangered species may be pushed to extinction over the coming decades as climate change affects their traditional habitats.
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Climate change mitigation
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Multimedia
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Emissions trading - putting a price on carbon
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The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a world first and a major weapon in Europe's fight against climate change. The innovative system has turned carbon dioxide emissions into a tradeable commodity. They can now be bought and sold like any other of the thousands of products traded on world markets today.
The scheme works by placing a limit or a 'cap' on the amount of carbon dioxide participating installations - currently around 10,500 across the European Union - can emit every year. If an installation emits more than its allowance, it must either pay a very hefty fine or buy surplus allowances from companies that have managed to stay below their limit. The system ensures that overall CO2 emissions from the plants covered are cut in the most cost effective way.
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Climate change mitigation
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Multimedia
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Reducing climate impacts from international aviation: Europe leads the way
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The European Commission is proposing legislation to bring the aviation sector into the European Union's pioneering emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) in order to control the rapid growth in CO2 emissions from air travel. Until now airlines have not been subject to the constraints on energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions that other businesses have to live with. Emissions from domestic flights are covered by the Kyoto Protocol's emission targets for developed countries, but international aviation - which makes up the vast majority of flights - is not. In addition, jet fuel for international flights has historically been exempted from taxation. Hence the need for policy action.
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Climate change mitigation
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Multimedia
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Emissions trading
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(This video has audio)
An explanation of emissions trading.
Source: EU Emissions Trading - An Open Scheme Promoting Global Innovation to Combat Climate Change (Nov. 2004), by the EU Publications Office
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Climate change mitigation
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Multimedia
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50 years of protecting Europe's environment
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Today the European Union has the most environmentally friendly arsenal of rules in the world and has done more to tackle pressing ecological problems, such as climate change, than any other major power.
But it has not always been like this. Caring for the environment did not feature in the Treaty of Rome, the document that gave birth to the modern day EU. Yet environmental problems were never far away. Europe’s love affair with the car was moving into top gear, industry was busy belching out pollutants and raw sewage was being pumped into our rivers and seas.
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Policy instruments
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Multimedia
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End-user GHG emissions from energy
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Reallocation of emissions from energy industries to end users 2005–2009
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Publications
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Renewable energy 2000 to 2010 — from toddler to teen
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The renewable energy sector has developed a lot the last ten years — a largely ignored toddler has become a wilful teenager. Decisions that can help it mature further will depend on understanding what has nurtured its growth so far.
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Articles
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Annual European Community greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2007 and inventory report 2009
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The present inventory also constitutes the EU‑15 voluntary submission under the Kyoto Protocol.
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Publications
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Application of EU’s Emissions Trading System rules improving
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Application of the rules that underpin the European Union’s Emissions Trading System is improving, with more complete data being reported by EU Member States, according to a new assessment published by the European Environment Agency today. However, improvements are still needed in monitoring and reporting, both by operators and countries.
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News
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EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) data viewer
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The EU ETS data viewer provides an easy access to emission trading data contained in the European Union Transaction Log (EUTL). The EUTL is a central transaction log, run by the European Commission, which checks and records all transactions taking place within the trading system. The EU ETS data viewer provides aggregated data by country, by main activity type and by year on the verified emissions, allowances and surrendered units of the more than 15 000 stationary installations reporting under the EU emission trading system, as well as 1500 aircraft operators.
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Data and maps
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Dashboards
