Topic Enviromental Markets

The EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and Its Contribution to Climate Neutrality

The EU Taxonomy is the first standardised and comprehensive classification system for sustainable economic activities. It covers activities responsible for up to 80% of EU greenhouse gas emissions and may play an important role in channelling investments into low-carbon technologies by helping investors to make informed decisions. However, especially in transition sectors much depends on the stringency ...

Exploring Emerging Norms of Climate Neutrality: Implications for International Climate Cooperation and Finance

Steel Decarbonization in Emerging Economies: What Case for International Climate Finance and Support?

Bridges over Troubled Waters: Climate Clubs, Alliances, and Partnerships as Safeguards for Effective International Cooperation?

Carbon Leakage, Consumption, and Trade

We review the state of knowledge concerning international CO2 emission transfers associated particularly with trade in energy-intensive goods and concerns about carbon leakage arising from climate policies. The historical increase in aggregate emission transfers from developing to developed countries peaked around 2006 and declined since. Studies find no evidence that climate policies lead to carbon ...

Carbon Contracts-for-difference: How to De-risk Innovative Investments for a Low-carbon Industry?

The shift to climate neutrality requires new process technologies for energy-intensive industries, such as steel, chemicals, or cement. A variety of technology options exist – but they face the challenges of (i) first-of-kind costs, (ii) higher operation and investment costs, and (iii) insufficient and uncertain carbon prices, which partly stem from political uncertainty. Existing innovation policy ...

Carbon Contracts for Difference as an Instrument for Strengthening Climate Cooperation between Industrialized and Emerging Economies

Industrialized countries and emerging economies must cooperate in order to decarbonize the emissions-intensive industrial sector and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. While Germany and the other G7 countries have committed to supporting emerging economies in their efforts to combat climate change via international climate finance, it remains to be seen how this support can be implemented ...

Climate Neutral Production, Free Allocation of Allowances under Emissions Trading Systems, and the WTO: How to Secure Compatibility with the ASCM

To reach climate neutrality, carbon emissions from the production of basic materials need to be significantly reduced. For governments’ support measures to be consistent with their World Trade Organization obligations, they need to be compatible with the WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). This paper analyzes the ASCM consistency of three selected support schemes, namely: ...

The Impact of ECB Corporate Sector Purchases on European Green Bonds

This papers analyzes the effect of the ECB’s Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) and the recent Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) on the yields of eligible green bonds, a new but rapidly growing segment of the corporate bond market. We exploit these policy changes using a difference-in-differences strategy, with ineligible corporate green bonds issued in euro, U.S. dollars and Swedish ...

Green Deal for Industry: A Clear Policy Framework Is More Important Than Funding

The European Commission is facing the challenge and opportunity of implementing the Green Deal while simultaneously initiating the recovery of the economy following the coronavirus crisis. Investments in the basic materials industry’s transition to climate neutrality play a central role in this, as the sector is responsible for 16 percent of the EU’s CO2 emissions and is key to downstream value chains. ...