Environment
Combating environmental degradation and preserving forests and oceans are among the prerequisites for achieving climate neutrality, and have become major governance issues.
Related Subjects
2019-2029: The World in 10 Years
The last four decades have witnessed the profound transformation of the very foundations of the international system: the globalization of trade, technical revolutions, the upheaval of the hierarchy of powers, the emergence of China, the explosion of the Middle-East, the mutation of conflicts and threats, climate concerns, etc.
The need for a strategic recycling approach to take up the challenge of critical metals
In September 2010, China stopped all exports of rare earths and associated products to Japan, depriving Japan’s industry of essential raw materials. This decision highlighted the tensions around the trade of critical materials and China’s monopoly on a group of particular metals. Western countries had already taken some initiatives so as to reduce, or at least to analyse their vulnerabilities in the segment of critical materials.
Brexit, Electricity and the No-Deal Scenario: Perspectives from Continental Europe, Ireland and the UK
When it comes to energy and electricity in particular, there can be no winner in the Brexit negotiations. The only reasonable objective should be to minimise losses and avoid trade friction.
Booming Prices on the European Emission Trading System: From Market Oversupply to Carbon Bubble?
Since its creation in 2005, the European emission trading system (EU ETS) has been through several periods of turmoil. With emission allowances (EUA) averaging around 7 euros per ton from 2012 to 2017, European Member States have been trying to remedy the depressed price signals successively through market design reforms at both European level (backloading, market stability reserve) and national level, with the UK introducing a carbon price floor for its domestic power sector in 2013.
Xi Jinping’s Institutional Reforms: Environment over Energy?
During its two sessions (lianghui) in March 2018, the National People’s Congress (NPC) announced China’s most important institutional reforms in the last 30 years. These changes occurred right after Xi Jinping consolidated his power and at a time when stakeholders working in the energy field were expecting more clarity on policy orientations.
The Power of China’s Energy Efficiency Policies
In just a few years, China has gained the status of an energy efficiency champion.
RAMSES 2019. The Clashes of the Future
RAMSES 2019. The Clashes of the Future, written by Ifri's research team and external experts, offers an in-depth and up-to-date analysis of global geopolitics.
Coal Exit or Coal Expansion? A Review of Coal Market Trends and Policies in 2017
Coal in the power sector is the principal focus of climate-related policies due to its high carbon intensity, making CO2 emissions from coal a leading contributor to climate change.
China’s National Carbon Market: a Game Changer in the Making?
As 2017 drew to close, China officially approved plans for its long-awaited national Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) outlined some of the implementation details[1]. Though it will be limited to the power sector (and combined heat and power, or CHP) at first, it will nevertheless be the world’s largest carbon market. It is expected to cover 1,700 companies representing approximately 30% of China’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. China’s CO2 emissions from fuel combustion amounted to approximately 8,796 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2Eq.) in 2016, and seem to remain stable since 2014, though they appear to increase again in 2017[2]. Shanghai should host the national market exchange, which will be jointly owned by the governments of other provinces while Hubei should host the registry[3].
US Energy and Environmental Policies. From Obama to Trump. Continuities and Divergences
President Trump’s administration is characterized by its systematic denial and repealing of measures from his predecessor, be it in foreign policy or domestic policy. This is particularly the case for the energy and environmental policies. There is however a continuity from one administration to another: the steady rise of US hydrocarbon production and the development of the US as a global leader in oil and gas production and in the near future, their exports to global markets.
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