European climate finance: securing the best return. Bruegel Policy Brief ISSUE 2015/03, 11 September 2015

Combating climate change is perhaps the most formidable public policy challenge of our times. Unmitigated climate change will be irreversible. It will place significant costs on future generations, and expose them to unexplored risks. To mitigate climate change, global coordination is indispensable. European Union citizens consider climate change a central problem. The EU and its member states have therefore put in place signficant and costly climate mitigation policies.

Towards a sustainable European economy. EPC Policy Brief, 13 October 2015

Europe is faced with interlinked economic, ecological and climate crises. As identified in the European Environment Agency's The European Environment – state and outlook 2015 report1 , Europe is increasingly affected by global trends that come with positive and negative impacts. Some of these it contributes to, some it can try to manage, while others are beyond its control. Regardless, only by anticipating these trends and making a sustainable economy the overriding policy objective, can it aim to maximise the related opportunities and minimise the threats.

Can a global climate risk pool help the most vulnerable countries? Bruegel Policy Brief 2015/04 December 2015

Extreme climate events related to global warming will happen somewhat randomly and could have a huge cost for the most vulnerable countries. A global climate risk pool, with contributions from all countries, could help these vulnerable countries to recover from such events and might thus smooth the way towards a broader climate deal.

The Path towards 1.5 degrees Celsius. CEPS Policy Brief No. 336, 3 December 2015

In less than one year, the country-led exercise in preparing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) has accomplished what the top-down approach characteristic of the UNFCCC has not been able to achieve in over 21 years of negotiations, namely to produce a sound agreement to reduce climate change. As such, the UNFCCC should adopt a new process similar to that used in developing the INDCs, in which Parties to the Convention would mobilise their national efforts, but on a wider scale and under certain agreed binding conditions. To ensure a comprehensive engagement, this Policy Brief recommends the introduction of a four-tier system in which the most developed nations called upon to take the lead, but with the very least developed nations also contributing to the intended UN objective.

System Costs of Variable Renewable Energy in the European Union. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefings 37/2015

To shift to a low-carbon economy, the EU has been encouraging the deployment of variable renewable energy sources (VRE). However, VRE lack of competitiveness and their technical specificities have substantially raised the cost of the transition. Economic evaluations show that VRE life-cycle costs of electricity generation are still today higher than those of conventional thermal power plants. Member States have consequently adopted dedicated policies to support them. In addition, Ueckerdt et al. (2013) show that when integrated to the power system, VRE induce supplementary not-accounted-for costs. This paper first exposes the rationale of EU renewables goals, the EU targets and current deployment. It then explains why the LCOE metric is not appropriate to compute VRE costs by describing integration costs, their magnitude and their implications. Finally, it analyses the consequences for the power system and policy options. The paper shows that the EU has greatly underestimated VRE direct and indirect costs and that policymakers have failed to take into account the burden caused by renewable energy and the return of State support policies. Indeed, induced market distortions have been shattering the whole power system and have undermined competition in the Internal Energy Market. EU policymakers can nonetheless take full account of this negative trend and reverse it by relying on competition rules, setting-up a framework to collect robust EU-wide data, redesigning the architecture of the electricity system and relying on EU regulators.

The Importance of Being Earnest: The green economy and sustainable development in China. Asia Policy Brief 2012/02, November 2012

China's past economic development model has not been sustainable, at least in environmental terms. In recent years, the Chinese government has dedicated considerable time, planning energy, policy and rhetoric to "green" issues. However, there is a risk that this trend will be stalled by struggles related to pending economic problems and the upcoming leadership transition. Consequently, the international community should acknowledge China’s achievements in terms of environmental policy and cooperation as one way of serving the global public interest.

Green and fair economy – a holistic concept for a sustainable economy. Policy Brief #2013/02

Solution approaches based purely on economics do not lead to optimal success – at least, not in the medium to long term. Rather, a sustainable economy requires an equal consideration of the ecological and social dimensions. The green economy concept, or, better said, the green and fair economy concept, is in principle suitable for, if not avoiding an economic and financial crisis as experienced in the last five years, at least moderating its negative effects. The important thing here is to integrate the design of the concept as much as possible at the political, economic and individual level.

Financial risks and opportunities in the time of climate change. Bruegel Policy Brief ISSUE 2016/02 APRIL 2016

Real economic imbalances can lead to financial crisis. The current unsustainable use of our environment is such an imbalance. Financial shocks can be triggered by either intensified environmental policies, cleantech breakthroughs (both resulting in the stranding of unsustainable assets), or the economic costs of crossing ecological boundaries (eg floods and droughts due to climate change). Financial supervisors and risk managers have so far paid little attention to this ecological dimension, allowing systemic financial imbalances resulting from ecological pressures to build up. Inattention also leads to missed economic and financial opportunities from the sustainability transition.

Information Guide: Environment Policy

A guide to the European Union’s Environment Policy, with hyperlinks to sources of information within European Sources Online and on external websites

Brexit and climate policy: Political choices will determine the future of EU-UK cooperation. CEPS Commentary, 15 July 2016

Ever since the electorate of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on June 23rd, there has been much discussion and speculation over what the decision implies for climate policy in the EU. This commentary looks at what may happen and the possible implications at various levels: globally at the level of the United Nations, the EU level and the implications for the UK.

Improving environmental quality through the use of local ordinances and regulations /

Cover tite: The use of existing and modified land use instruments to achieve environmental quality.

Profiles of success in providing environmental services.

Mode of access: Internet.

Environmental technology : hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session, February 23, 1993.

Shipping list no.: 93-0302-P.

Management deficiencies in environmental enforcement : "forceless enforcement" : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, first session, June 19, 1991.

Shipping list no.: 93-0101-P.

To review issues related to the clean up of Department of Defense national priority list sites and compliance with the Solid Waste Disposal Act [microform] : hearing before the Environmental Restoration Panel of the Readiness Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, hearing held September 27, 1988.

At head of title: H.A.S.C. no. 100-95.