Delivering a Climate Neutral Europe

Delivering a Climate Neutral Europe summarises the achievements of 25 years of EU Climate Policy, with the emphasis on what has been achieved under the Green Deal. It also highlights climate issues on the table of policy makers in the next European policy cycle 2024–2029.

Curated by Jos Delbeke, one of the foremost experts in this field, the chapters are all written by responsible officials of the EU Commission services, who were deeply involved in the negotiations related to the legislation they prepared. They explain how ambitious targets were prepared for 2030 and 2050 in view of implementing the commitments taken in 2015 under the Paris Agreement and present the overall architecture of the policy to counter the idea that an avalanche of legislative action is being developed without much structure. In particular, this book examines the carbon pricing tool that Europe implemented under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the differentiated targets Member States have to deliver and climate-relevant EU legislation in the fields of energy, transport, industry, finance and agriculture and forestry. The authors also discuss the upcoming headwinds in the form of a growing scepticism in public opinion, and the impact of the wars in the close neighbourhood of the European continent.

Written as a follow-up to previous publications EU Climate Policy Explained and Towards a Climate-Neutral Europe, this new volume will be a vital resource for students, scholars and policy makers alike who are researching and working in the areas of climate change, environmental governance and EU policy more broadly.

Jos Delbeke holds the first EIB Chair on Climate Policy and International Carbon Markets and was previously Director-General of the European Commission’s DG for Climate Action (2010–2018). Delbeke was involved in setting the EU’s climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030 and in developing EU legislation on the Emissions Trading System (ETS), cars and fuels, air quality, emissions from big industrial installations and chemicals (REACH). He developed Europe’s International Climate Change strategy and was the European Commission’s chief negotiator at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties, playing a key role in the EU’s implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and in negotiations on the Paris Agreement.