Sandbag co-signed an open letter sent to the European Commission by 114 leading academics, businesses, civil society organisations and research institutions urging the EU to set explicit and separate targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, land-based carbon dioxide sequestration and permanent carbon dioxide removals in the EU’s post-2030 climate framework.
Setting distinct targets will reduce the risks of overdependence on permanent carbon dioxide removals (CDR) and ensure that emissions reductions remain the EU’s priority. In turn, it will also help provide clarity and certainty for the carbon removals sector. Distinguishing greenhouse gas emissions reductions from permanent carbon removals is also important to better evaluate the costs involved. As discussions progress regarding the potential future inclusion of permanent CDR in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), it is essential that they are treated separately from other, more urgent policy initiatives to tackle hard-to-abate greenhouse gas emissions.
“We cannot afford to slow down efforts to cut emissions and phase out fossil fuels. The upcoming Communication on the EU climate target for 2040 provides a key opportunity to reaffirm the EU’s ambitions and strengthen climate governance” says Aymeric Amand, Policy Officer at Sandbag.
Read More:
Steel emissions standards under threat from flawed “mass balance” proposal
A joint letter from 30+ NGOs warns that coal-based steel could be falsely labelled as green under proposed “mass balance” rules. The signatories call for traceable, credible emissions data in steel standards.
Joint statement urges EU to boost the use of recycled steel scrap in the automotive sector
A new joint statement urges the EU to set binding targets for recycled steel use in cars, citing the climate benefits of secondary steel and the need to reduce demand for high-emission imports.
Towards a minimum recycled steel content in passenger cars: setting an initial target
The EU has around 286 million motor vehicles, and every year, 6.5 million of these are scrapped. If the steel scrap from these end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is not managed well, valuable resources are lost, harming the environment. With the EU preparing its ELV Regulation, which could set targets for minimum recycled steel content for passenger cars : what should those targets be?