Climate Change & Energy

Latest in Sustainable Land Use

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  What contributions can agricultural emissions make to the proposed Effort Sharing Regulation?

  New IEEP report finds the agriculture sector can significantly contribute to the EU’s climate commitments by reducing its non-CO2 emissions. It also finds these contributions can be delivered cost efficiently with environmental co-benefits without impacting production.

• Towards sustainability: Future policies for European livestock

  The CAP is failing to reward adequately those livestock farmers who produce public goods. Brexit and CAP reform are opportunities to do better.

• Greening taxes and subsidies in the Pacific

  IEEP will share its expertise on environmental taxation and the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies at a forum event on greening taxation and subsidies in the Pacific region during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

• Land suitability assessments for bioenergy feedstocks in the EU – a review of data sources

  Current data availability is inadequate to undertake a detailed national or European level study of land areas that are underutilised and could be considered available for bioenergy production within the EU.

• The EU’s climate targets, land use, and forests: delivering biodiversity-friendly mitigation

  Land use and forestry is a new frontier for EU climate policy. IEEP’s report for FERN sets out some ideas for how a supportive policy framework can deliver both climate and biodiversity benefits.

• Assessing sustainable biomass availability

  Dr. Ben Allen presented IEEP’s views on the sustainable use of biomass at an international conference in Brussels. Understanding the scale of the resource is a key part of determining appropriate policy intervention and ensuring commercial viability.

• The use of eco-accounts in Baden- Württemberg to implement the German Impact Mitigation Regulation: A tool to meet EU’s No-Net-Loss requirement?

  A case study which looks into the extent to which the Eco-accounts in place in Baden-Württemberg in Germany are effective and consistent with the EU’s no-net-loss objective and international offsetting principles.

• The EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets – a triumph of short-termism?

  European leaders have raised the stakes for the Paris talks by agreeing a set of climate and energy targets for 2030. The challenge will be to implement the tortuous detail on energy policy in a way which matches with longer term decarbonisation ambitions.

• Space for energy crops – An assessment on the potential contribution of Europe’s energy future

  The overall energy potential that can be produced from growing dedicated energy crops on ‘spare’ land in the EU is low. This new report explores the potential for the additional production of energy crops in Europe on land not already used for food production, forestry, or providing other important services, and assesses some of the challenges associated with increasing output.

• Press release - Biofuels don’t deliver but bioresources have promise

  Biofuels produced from conventional agricultural crops deliver only limited reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and compete for limited supplies of land.

• Waste-based biofuels sector needs smarter EU 2030 package to realize its high potential

  A robust sustainability framework and ambitious decarbonisation targets for transport fuels in 2030 are necessary to ensure efficient waste utilisation and the long-term reduction of transport emissions.

• How to design EU biofuels policy for post-2020?

  IEEP has organised two parallel workshops in Brussels and London to discuss with key EU and UK policy makers and stakeholders the future for EU biofuels policy post 2020.

• Time to decide – What’s at stake as European energy ministers vote on biofuels?

  Europe’s Energy Ministers must seize the opportunity to set future EU biofuels policy on a more sustainable trajectory.

• Recycling wastes and residues for sustainable bioenergy and biomaterials

  What should be Europe’s role in feeding the world in 2050, considering competing demands for land? This IEEP report for the European Parliament describes options for reusing food wastes and agricultural and forestry residues for biomaterials and bioenergy.

• Biofuels and ILUC – Q&A

  Recurring questions on biofuels and ILUC are addressed in IEEP’s latest report to help build a robust policy to deal with ILUC and other impacts of large scale production of first generation biofuels.

• Press release - Shifting away from conventional biofuels

  15 May – A new report produced by IEEP for ActionAid suggests that a sustainable advanced biofuel sector in the UK could not only lead to thousands of new jobs but also help to deliver better greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and improve the overall environmental and social performance of the biofuel sector.

• Land use mapping for sustainable biofuels

  IEEP and WWF join forces to define criteria and principles to guide the mapping of appropriate land use to ensure sustainable biofuel crops.

• Addressing ILUC? The European Commission’s proposal on indirect land use change

  The European Commission’s proposal on indirect land use change – what’s in it for mitigating emissions? Read IEEP’s latest Biofuel ExChange briefing.

• The role of bioenergy in Europe's energy future

  IEEP’s review questions the potential contribution of increased use of biomass for heat and electricity generation to reduce emissions.

• Bioenergy and climate change: hard questions to answer

  We have a policy framework which will drive greater use of bioenergy to 2020 but with no associated guarantee of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, concludes IEEP report.