European Environmental and Public Law

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Technical Expert Group recommends minimum requirements for two new benchmarks.

By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green

On 30 September 2019, the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG) published its final report on climate benchmarks and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures (the Report), as well as a summary of the Report. The Report makes recommendations regarding the minimum technical requirements for the methodology that pertains to two new climate benchmarks. The Report also makes recommendations for suggested ESG disclosures on a wide range of benchmarks. This post will examine the TEG recommendations and their implications for the future of these climate benchmarks.

The Programme includes a new CO2 pricing regime aimed at emissions caused by the building sector and by traffic and transport.

By Jörn Kassow

On 20 September 2019, the German government adopted the Climate Action Programme 2030, a plan to ensure that Germany achieves its climate protection goals for 2030, including a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 55% (compared to 1990). The Programme comprises a number of measures for all relevant sectors. Significant measures include:

CO2 pricing: New pricing of CO2 emissions caused by the building sector and by traffic and transport may be the single most important aspect of the Programme. The relevant national emissions trading system will be launched in 2021. Companies selling heating fuel (such as heating oil, gas, or coal) and fuel for vehicles will need to buy one certificate for every tonne of CO2 emitted by the products they sell. While fuel traders will initially bear the costs of these certificates, such costs are likely to be passed on to consumers. The trading system will start with a fixed price of €10 per tonne of CO2 in 2021 and increase to €35 per tonne of CO2 in 2025. After 2025, the market will set the price, within a fixed band. The total quantity of certificates issued throughout Germany shall be in line with the German and European climate targets.

ECJ Decision Examines Definition of ‘Waste’ for Transboundary Consignments

Request for preliminary ruling from the Hague Court of Appeal confirms that the concepts of “waste” and “discard” must be interpreted broadly.

By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently handed down its judgment in response to a request for a preliminary ruling in criminal proceedings against Tronex BV (Case C-624/17), a Dutch wholesaler of residual consignments of electronic goods. The case concerns the transboundary shipment of electronic and electrical appliances to a third party in Tanzania.

This blog will examine the legislative framework and facts underpinning the case, and the ECJ’s discussion and decision.

The guidelines, along with three new reports on green finance, demonstrate the European Commission’s intent in respect of meeting its Paris Agreement targets.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green and Clément Pradille

On June 18, 2019, the European Commission (Commission) published new guidelines on corporate climate-related information reporting, as well as three new reports by the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG), as part of the Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan (Action Plan). The new guidelines provide companies with information and recommendations to support their approach to reporting the impact of their activities on climate change, and also how climate change impacts the business of those companies.

Understanding the Guidelines

The Commission published its guidelines on reporting climate change-related information (2019 Guidelines) under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU (Directive). The 2019 Guidelines are part of the Action Plan, which was published in March 2018 and aims to reorient capital toward sustainable investment, manage financial risks arising from climate change, and foster transparency and a long-term view in financial and economic activities.

The Committee has recommended that the UK government take the lead in reaching net-zero, through social, financial, and policy change.

By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), a statutory body that advises the UK government on carbon budgets, has recommended that the UK government should commit to cutting greenhouse gases (GHGs) to net-zero by 2050 in an attempt to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Financial Times described the proposed goal as the “toughest binding target of any big economy.”[i] To meet this ambitious net-zero target, the UK government would need to employ technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage to curtail the volume of GHGs entering the atmosphere. Chris Stark, chief executive of the CCC, remarked that the UK’s bid to reach net-zero will be a “powerful signal to other countries”[ii] to take action.

ECJ ruling provides EU Member States more flexibility in designing the promotion of renewable energies.

By Jörn Kassow, Alexander Wilhelm, and Apostolos Papadimitriou 

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled that the German Renewable Energy Act of 2012 (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz – EEG 2012) did not constitute State aid (C-405/16 P). The ECJ found that the support mechanism for renewable energies in practice financed by electricity consumers paying the so-called “EEG surcharge”, and the reductions for electricity-intensive companies related to the EEG surcharge, do not constitute State aid because they do not involve State resources.

The ECJ ruling on 28 March annulled a November 2014 decision by the European Commission (EC) that approved the German support mechanism for renewable energies as compatible State aid, and for the most part the reduction of the EEG surcharge for electricity-intensive undertakings. However, in that decision the EC had also ordered Germany to recover a limited part of the reductions that was deemed incompatible.

EU will tax manufacturers for excess emissions and collect individual consumption data from vehicles in order to meet climate change goals.

By Jörn Kassow and Patrick Braasch

The EU is setting stricter CO2 emission standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs). A new regulation on CO2 emission standards (Regulation (EU) No 2019/631), replacing the past regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011, was published in the Official Journal on 25 April 2019 and will enter into force with effect from 1 January 2020. From 2025 onwards, the average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and LCVs must be reduced by 15% compared to 2021 levels. By 2030, the average emissions must be reduced by 37.5% for passenger cars and 31% for LCVs, in each case compared to 2021 levels.

These average emissions targets apply to each manufacturer’s (or group of connected manufacturers’) EU-wide fleet of new passenger cars and LCVs. The regulation will reward manufacturers with less stringent CO2 targets if they meet benchmarks regarding their respective fleet’s share of zero- and low-emission vehicles (2025: 15% for both passenger cars and LCVs, 2030: 35% for passenger cars and 30% for LCVs). Furthermore, manufacturers may enter into pooling arrangements (subject to competition law restrictions) for meeting their emissions targets. These arrangements will allow leaders in zero- and low-emission vehicles to capitalise on their below-average emissions by pooling with, and effectively selling their emissions savings to, manufacturers of more traditional, i.e., CO2-intensive passenger cars and LCVs. Manufacturers can also apply to the Commission for consideration of CO2 savings achieved through the use of innovative technologies. The Commission may grant temporary derogations from their specific emissions targets to certain niche manufacturers.