Methodological Framework for the Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions from Climate Change Mitigation Actions

Methodological Framework ◽

The European Union ◽

Emission Reductions ◽

Member States ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Ex Post ◽

European Environmental Agency ◽

The quantification of the effect of climate change mitigation actions is a very useful exercise that can be used to meet a variety of objectives, such as informing policy design, enhancing policy implementation, assessing policy effectiveness, justifying budget allocation, and attracting climate finance. It is also a reporting requirement according to the reporting framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Monitoring Mechanism Regulation of the European Union (EU) about climate change relevant information. However, the reporting of emissions savings associated to mitigation actions by EU Member States is not complete, according to recent technical reports of the European Environmental Agency. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodological framework that can be used to quantify the effect (i.e. emission reductions) of the mitigation actions. It is based on comprehensive and transparent models and formulas that could be easily tracked and reproduced. The proposed framework could be easily applied by EU Member States, but also by other non-EU countries, to enhance the reporting of climate change related information to European Commission and UN bodies. By applying the methodological framework for Greece, as a case study, it was possible to estimate the effect of implemented policies and measures for historical years (ex-post analysis), but also to estimate the projected effect (ex-ante analysis) of implemented, adopted and planned policies for future years (e.g. 2030).

The practice of climate change policy evaluations in the European Union and its member states: results from a meta-analysis

Sustainable Earth ◽

10.1186/s42055-019-0015-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Noriko Fujiwara ◽

Harro van Asselt ◽

Stefan Böβner ◽

Sebastian Voigt ◽

Niki-Artemis Spyridaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

European Union ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

The European Union ◽

Member States ◽

Ex Post ◽

Abstract Background This article presents the main findings from a meta-analysis of how climate change mitigation policy evaluations have been undertaken in the European Union (EU) and six of its Member States: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom. It aims to provide insights into how policy evaluations are carried out and how those practices might be improved. As a first step, this article reviews the literature on the theory and practice of policy evaluations to guide our methodology and further analysis. Results Our sample of 236 policy evaluations in the EU and six Member States covers the period 2010–2016. Compared with the results of a similar meta-analysis carried out covering the period 1998–2007, formal evaluations commissioned by government bodies have been on the rise in 2010–2016. Most evaluations focus on effectiveness and goal achievement and usually forgo a deeper level of reflexivity and/or public participation in the evaluation process. The analysis also reveals the dominance of the energy sector in the sampled evaluations. The article finds that the low number of any policy evaluations in the agriculture, waste or land-use sectors is an area for further investigation. Conclusions The exercise of identifying, coding and categorising these evaluations for 7 years helps to provide insights into the potential use of ex-post evaluations in support of future EU legislative proposals and accompanying impact assessments. Having a good understanding on how a certain policy performed particularly according to evaluation criteria might form the basis for more ambitious climate change mitigation policies in the future. Our analysis further shows that it is crucial and urgent to allocate sufficient resources to the coverage of relatively under-represented sectors, such as land use, land-use change and forestry, and waste.

Health co-benefits and the development of climate change mitigation policies in the European Union

Climate Policy ◽

10.1080/14693062.2018.1544541 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 585-597 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Annabelle Workman ◽

Grant Blashki ◽

Kathryn J. Bowen ◽

David J. Karoly ◽

John Wiseman

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

European Union ◽

The European Union ◽

Change Mitigation ◽

Mitigation Policies

Sustainable forestry: from monitoring and modelling to knowledge management and policy science ◽

The European Union sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation policies from a transition country's perspective.

10.1079/9781845931742.0056 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 56-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Nijnik ◽

L. Bizikova

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

European Union ◽

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

The European Union ◽

Change Mitigation ◽

Mitigation Policies

If You Are Not Part of the Solution, You Are the Problem: Article 37 of the EU Charter as a Defence for Climate Change and Environmental Measures in Investor-State Arbitrations – Joint 2nd Prize Winner Essay competition 2020

European Investment Law and Arbitration Review ◽

10.1163/24689017_011 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 265-295

Author(s):

Florence Humblet ◽

Kabir Duggal

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Critical Role ◽

International Investment ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

The European Union ◽

Member States ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Environmental Measures ◽

The Eu

Climate change is severely impacting the survival of humankind on earth. In the European Union (EU), the Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter) codifies environmental protection as part of the EU’s corpus of fundamental rights protection and states that “a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the EU and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development”. By virtue of this article, the EU has elevated environmental protection to the level of constitutionality. Environmental concerns have played a critical role in investor-state arbitration. This article submits that Article 37 of the EU Charter might be a viable defence for Member States of the EU (Member States) that adopt climate change and environmental measures. Such defence would not consist of a jurisdictional challenge based on the Achmea decision but of a defence based on the applicable law which protects the notion of sustainable investment enshrined in the applicable international investment agreement. Article 37 of the EU Charter could, therefore, operate a powerful tool to foster environmental protection in investor-state disputes and, therefore, address one of the most widespread complaints in the backlash against investor-state arbitration.

Unilateral climate change mitigation, carbon leakage and competitiveness: an application to the European Union

International Journal of Global Warming ◽

10.1504/ijgw.2009.029212 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 405 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Terry Barker ◽

S. Serban Scrieciu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

European Union ◽

Carbon Leakage ◽

The European Union ◽

BIOCHAR STANDARDIZATION AND LEGISLATION HARMONIZATION

Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management ◽

10.3846/16486897.2016.1254640 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 175-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Sebastian MEYER ◽

Lorenzo GENESIO ◽

Ines VOGEL ◽

Hans-Peter SCHMIDT ◽

Gerhard SOJA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Amendment ◽

Quality Standards ◽

Eu Member States ◽

The Usa ◽

Soil Improvers ◽

The Uk ◽

Change Mitigation ◽

The Eu

It is a relatively new concept to use biochar as soil amendment and for climate change mitigation. For this reason, the national and supranational legislation in the EU is not yet adequately prepared to regulate both the production and the application of biochar. Driven by this “regulatory gap”, voluntary biochar quality standards have been formed in Europe with the European Biochar Certificate, in the UK with the Biochar Quality Mandate and in the USA with the IBI Standard which is intended to be used internationally. In parallel to this, biochar producers and biochar users in a number of EU countries were partly successful in fitting the new biochar product into the existing national legislation for fertilisers, soil improvers and composts. The intended revision of the EC Regulation 2003/2003 on fertilisers offers the opportunity to regulate the use of biochar at the EU level. This publication summarizes the efforts on biochar standardization which have been carried out by voluntary products standards and illustrates existing legislation in EU member states, which apply to the production and use of biochar. It describes existing and planned EU regulations, which impact biochar applications and it develops recommendations on the harmonization of biochar legislation in the EU.

Coniferous forests in the Mediterranean: an ecosystem of vital importance, threatened by forest management deficit

The Project Repository Journal ◽

10.54050/prj10100109 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 100-109

Author(s):

Miguel Chamón Fernández

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

European Union ◽

Forest Management ◽

Coniferous Forests ◽

The European Union ◽

Vital Importance ◽

Compensation Systems ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Coniferous forests in the Mediterranean: an ecosystem of vital importance, threatened by forest management deficit LIFE FOREST CO2 (Assessment of forest carbon sinks and promotion of compensation systems as tools for climate change mitigation) started in 2016, with a budget of €2,335,417 and a contribution from the LIFE programme of the European Union of €1,401,223 (60% funded), developed in Spain and France the project ended in June 2021.