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The Week in Green
So the European Commission has finally gone and published its Climate Change Action Plan and very impressive and wide-ranging it is too.
So wide ranging in fact we've gone and done a bit of an idiot's guide detailing the main points.
There was little in fact that wasn't already heavily trailed. The 20:20:20 targets were confirmed, the 10 per cent biofuels target was retained despite calls from British MPs for a rethink, and the ETS carbon market got a much needed overhaul that should see the price of carbon climb significantly from 2013.
Taken together the implications of these various measures are massive.
The carbon market, already worth €40bn last year and maturing rapidly with new services like Deutsche Bank's trading offering being launched each week, will go from strength to strength.
The renewables sector and in particular the wind industry will also benefit massively from the plan. The sector is scaling fast, as evidenced this week by GE Energy's billion dollar wind turbine deal, and there is every reason to believe the wind industry's assertions that the targets can be met. It is also easy to see why investment in cleantech continues to grow and the government is so keen on the Severn Barrage project.
As I argued earlier today, none of this is happening fast enough, but everything is heading in the right direction.
What is less clear is how the industries not directly affected by the EU's various measures will react. Will the carbon price filter through to the rest of the economy in the form of higher energy and commodity prices and drive more sustainable investments and behaviours or will more legislation be required? Will businesses and politicians stay focused on targets 12 years hence or will they be distracted by short term concerns like the current financial problems impacting the stock market? Will the car industry, for so long a thorn in the side of EU attempts to cut emissions, finally embrace the required technological advances? And will the green consumer revolution prove enough to drive the development of new green products?
Answer these questions and we might be getting somewhere.
Right, I'm off to see how my bid for green.co.uk is getting on.
Have a good weekend,
James
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