COP 27
"The climate is changing faster than our capacity to adapt. (...) Let us not take the highway to hell, but earn our clean ticket to heaven!"- Ursula von der Leyen
This message, however, is not supported by all EU representatives, amid increasing wariness that steeper climate ambitions are counterproductive in the current mix of strains on industry, stemming from inflation, the war in Ukraine and high energy costs.
“We have to see it from the point of view of the industries,” Jozef Síkela, the Czech energy minister whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Rules brought forward as part of the EU’s “Fit for 55” proposals were adding extra costs to already struggling companies, he argued. (More here.)
Jacob Werksman, head of the EU’s COP27 delegation, told journalists in Sharm el-Sheikh that he EU was on a “case by case basis looking at ways we can strike that balance”, to ensure that all fossil fuel investments were made in parallel to a “path” to renewable energy.
Moreover, at COP27, African leaders and activists have a unified agenda: to hold accountable the wealthy nations most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and put “loss and damage” funding, a form of climate reparations, on the summit agenda. More here, with REUTERS.
At east 636 fossil lobbyists have been granted access to COP27, according to Global Witness and its partners at Corporate Accountability and Corporate Europe Observatory. There are also twice as many fossil fuel lobbyists as delegates from the official UN constituency for indigenous peoples. 29 countries brought a total of 200 fossil fuel lobbyists as part of their official delegations. More than one in five in Russia’s 150 strong delegation are from the fossil fuel industry. More here.
- REUTERS / Financial TIMES / Global Witness.org
>More here. - European Council
War in Europe - retreat or no retreat?
US mid-term elections
President Biden scored the best midterm result of any president in 20 years, avoiding a predicted Republican surge.
He intends to run in 2024 with announcement ‘early next year’.
Source: BBC (more here)
Brussels seeks to end era of fiscal rigor. Changes to EU fiscal rules offer more leeway to cut excess debt, but Berlin isn’t on board.
The review’s aim is “a simpler system of fiscal rules with greater country ownership and slower path of debt reduction,” Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday. Under the Commission’s proposal, countries whose debt is considered riskier by the Commission would need to commit to a four-year expenditure plan, extendable to seven if complemented by reforms and investment, which would put their excess debt on a downward trajectory within a 10-year period.
However, whether the Commission’s proposals will actually secure the required consent of all EU countries is yet to be seen.
>More here with POLITICO.
European Union negotiators reached an agreement Tuesday evening (8 November) on a regulation mandating emission cuts across sectors such as buildings, road transport, agriculture and waste.
EUROPEAN COURT of AUDITORS
FUTURES of EUROPE
IRAN
AFGHANISTAN
This week, a glance on how the EU is perceived from the outside. Feel like EU documents are difficult to understand?
Science proves it's not you!
Climate target FOCUS
- Interested in The Economist, CONTEXTE, EU Observer, AGENCE EUROPE annual subscriptions? Interested in E-books? Please contact us!
- Unlimited access to PressReader (i.e. as many newspapers and magazines you can read…) is available HERE.
- You definitely have full access to CONTEXTE! If you wish to join the platform as a new CoR user, please inform us.
- Problems connecting to AGENCE EUROPE? Take your access from HERE.
- Missing POLITICO’s newspaper? Every Thursday, POLITICO journalists assemble a weekly e-paper that you can read here, or via the dedicated POLITICO app (available on Apple Store or Google Play Store).
- Access to Harvard Business Review e-books, thousands of publications, EU Observer and many other resources available HERE, on our Intranet page.
Happy to have your feedbacks! Please do not hesitate to reach out in case of connection problem or if you have questions or suggestions.
- getAbstract is available for all CoR (members and staff)! Click here to connect!
Happy to help you get access to all these contents!
For more contents, just make sure you test GoodRead, Library's search engine & reading platform. Thousands of contents are waiting for you there!
Documentation Centre's resources are available here on Intranet!
