Von der Leyen targets 55% greenhouse gas emissions cut in EU by 2030
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen officially lifted the European Union’s 2030 emissions reduction target to 55%. Earlier, the relevant committee in the European Parliament demanded 60%. The EU is preparing an economic recovery package for the Western Balkans. Europe will become a climate-neutral continent by 2050, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen […]
Ten lessons learned from the pandemic crisis to be applied in combating climate change
Author: Danko Kalkan, Green Finance and Environmental Management Expert at ProCredit bank What are the similarities and differences between the pandemic and climate crisis and why is the latter underrated? Although there are numerous similarities between these two types of crisis, they are fundamentally different. Still, there are several lessons we could learn and apply […]
Serbian building firm on path to green growth with new high-efficiency equipment
Serbian construction company Karin Komerc MD has taken a significant step towards green growth by investing in new, high-efficiency equipment. The achieved cuts in energy and water consumption, reduced CO2 emissions, as well as financial savings, demonstrate the great potential of the construction industry to reduce its environmental footprint and take an active role in […]
Earth Overshoot Day is August 22 but Balkans already spent most of 2020 environmental credit
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the overconsumption of nature’s capacity to levels from 15 years ago, but it doesn’t guarantee a permanent reversal in the trend, according to data behind the Earth Overshoot Day model. If we look at the environmental impact by country from the start of the year, only one in the Balkans isn’t […]
EU preparing CO2 tax for products from other countries
The European Commission launched public consultations on taxation rules that would help its climate agenda. It expressed the intention to revise the internal Energy Tax Directive and to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism in line with the European Green Deal. The latter, effectively a CO2 tax, could be applied for imported and domestic goods […]
Turkey to blend green hydrogen into natural gas supply network for heating
GAZBİR tested a 20% share of hydrogen in natural gas and measured an increase in energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions, so Turkey is looking to introduce the fuel produced by using renewable sources in heating. Turkish energy companies started a project supported by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) to reduce the country’s dependence […]
Norway sets aside EUR 2.1 billion to develop carbon capture, storage
Equinor is working with Shell and Total on transferring liquefied CO2 through a pipeline to below the seabed so that it isn’t released into the atmosphere. Norway approved EUR 2.1 billion in state aid for the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for a cement factory and a waste incinerator. Regulators have agreed with the […]
EU cuts Just Transition Fund to EUR 10 billion in COVID-19 recovery deal
The European Council reached an agreement on the seven-year budget through 2027 including a mechanism for the recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic worth EUR 750 billion. The EU heads of state and government gave the green light for EUR 10 billion for the Just Transition Fund from the COVID-19 war chest, slashing […]
