Group items tagged

The EU should de-politicise coal by providing a solution to the related socioeconomic issues, such as the difficulties of transition in coal mining regions. T o do so, the EU should broaden the scope and change the functioning of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, to make it into a flagship EU initiative that will support European coal miners who will inevitably be affected by EU decarbonisation. By devoting 0.1 percent of its post-2020 budget to this item, the EU could facilitate the elimination of a major stumbling block on its decarbonisation pathway.

Box 1: A back-of-the-envelope calculation of the EGCF budget requirements to support the coal phase-out Europeans employed in coal mining = 216,000 (0.07 percent of total) Assuming a 50 percent phase-out between 2020-27 = 108,000 jobs to be phased out (Fair to assume that part of the remaining 50 percent will naturally retire over the period) 108,000 / 7 years = 15,430 jobs to be phased out yearly between 2020-2027 Assuming financial support of €10,000 per worker = €154 million per year Total financial requirement for the coal-item of the EGCF between 2020-27 = €1 billion

The proposed changes will phase out the least efficient outdoor lighting products by the end of 2012, transitioning to new lighting products that are better for the environment and less costly to run. For example, new outdoor lights will be required to have a sensor that will turn them off during daylight hours, putting an end to wasteful streetlight operation during the day. New parking lot lights must be capable of being dimmed, which can cut their energy use in half. The agreement also directs the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop even better standards by 2013.

Most governments provide some kind of financial assistance to boost energy supply or reduce prices for certain energy consumers. Fossil fuels have been widely subsidized for decades. The exact scale of these subsidies is not known because a comprehensive study has never been undertaken. What is clear is that fossil-fuel subsidies can drain government budgets and increase greenhouse gas emissions. In recognition of these unwanted impacts, the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G-20) countries agreed in September 2009 to phase-out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies in the medium term. The Global Subsidies Initiative is well aware of the complex issues surrounding fossil-fuel subsidies and their reform. That is why last year, in anticipation of the current calls for such reform, it commenced an ambitious program to identify, measure, and analyze the effects of fossil-fuel subsidies. Key findings from the first five in-depth reports, which together make up the series Untold Billions: Fossil-fuel subsidies, their impacts and the path to reform, are summarized above. Below, each of the individual reports can be freely downloaded. Support for one of the papers, Gaining traction: the importance of transparency in accelerating the reform of fossil-fuel subsidies, was generously provided by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).