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FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) - The European Union and Germany have reached a deal on the future use of combustion engines, officials said on Saturday, an issue that has been closely followed by the auto industry. The agreement will allow some combustion engines beyond 2035 and was quickly condemned by a prominent environmental group. "We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars," Frans Timmermans, head of EU climate policy, said on Twitter. "Vehicles with internal combustion engines can still be newly registered after 2035 if they fill up exclusively with CO2-neutral fuels," he said in a post on Twitter. Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said EU diplomats would vote on Monday to formally approve the 2035 phaseout law.

☆ A 'greenwashing' crackdown in Europe hasn't gone down well. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published its so-called "Green Claims Directive" on Wednesday. The highly anticipated proposal seeks to establish an EU-wide methodology that will help to clean up the environmental claims marketplace. Today, most green claims are too good to be true and the proposal is… far from the real (green) deal. The EU's "Green Claims Directive" seeks to tackle this trend. "Green claims are everywhere: ocean-friendly t-shirts, carbon-neutral bananas, bee-friendly juices, 100% CO2-compensated deliveries and so on," said Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal.

☆ Exclusive: EU drafts plan to allow e-fuel combustion engine cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Markus Wacket | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The draft proposal, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, suggests creating a new type of vehicle category in the European Union for cars that can only run on carbon neutral fuels. Such vehicles would have to use technology that would prevent them from driving if other fuels are used, the draft said. The proposal could offer a route for carmakers to keep selling combustion engine vehicles after 2035, the date when a planned EU law is set to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting cars. The Ministry's core demand is that the EU allow sales of new cars running on e-fuels after 2035. An EU official told Reuters on Monday that any proposal on registering e-fuel cars would only be made after the combustion engine phaseout law was finally adopted.

☆ Germany sees progress in EU talks for ban on fossil fuel cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cars are pictured at rush hour traffic on A100 highway during a snowfall in Berlin, Germany, February 8, 2021. It wants sales of new cars with internal combustion engines to be allowed after that date if they run on e-fuels. "There are positive trends that are a good basis for further talks," a spokesman for the ministry told a news conference. The Commission declined to comment on the letter, which also suggested allowing carmakers to count such cars towards complying with CO2 targets. Such changes are legally problematic as the European Parliament has approved the regulations agreed between the bloc's member states and the Commission, meaning any change could be complicated and time-consuming.

☆ Need for fossil fuels in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly, Frans Timmermans says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNeed for fossil fuels in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly, Frans Timmermans saysFrans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and commissioner for climate action of the European Commission, says the need for fossil fuel in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly.

☆ Without action, 'my kids and grandkids will be fighting wars over water,' Frans Timmermans says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWithout action, 'my kids and grandkids will be fighting wars over water,' Frans Timmermans saysFrans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, tells CNBC during the Munich Security Conference that, in the absence of action, "my kids and grandkids will be fighting wars over water."

☆ World to face wars over food and water without climate action, EU green deal chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The European Commission's climate chief warned Friday that society will be "fighting wars" over food and water in the future, if serious action is not taken on climate change. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Frans Timmermans said global warming posed one of the greatest risks to security worldwide and urged that efforts to limit its impact should not be derailed by other geopolitical crises, such as the war in Ukraine. "Climate is security, it's the same thing," said Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and commissioner for climate action at the European Commission. "The climate crisis is not going to be halted because there's another priority," Timmermans told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during a panel session entitled "Geopolitics of Green Transition."

☆ German government will make sure all of us Europeans feel safe, EU’s Timmermans says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailGerman government will make sure all of us Europeans feel safe, EU’s Timmermans saysFrans Timmermans made his comments on the resignation of Germany's defense minister, during an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Abu Dhabi.

Negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament aim to strike a deal on the world-first law on Tuesday evening - after which, both sides would need to formally rubber stamp it. The EU scheme would require companies importing goods into Europe to buy certificates to cover the CO2 emissions embedded in those products. The aim is create a level playing field between overseas firms and domestic EU industries, who must buy permits from the EU carbon market when they pollute. The tariff is part of a package of EU policies designed to help the world avoid disastrous climate change by cutting EU emissions 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels. Separate EU negotiations later this week will seek a deal on the centrepiece of that package - a reform of the EU carbon market.

☆ COP27 deal is a blessing in a very good disguise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The world’s premier forum for combatting climate change concluded in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday with an inadequate agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. At Glasgow’s COP26 a year ago, the world’s nearly 200 nations promised to update their decarbonisation plans in 2022. Pessimists will accurately stress that a newly agreed loss and damage fund to pay off affected countries is just an empty bucket – the details will be determined later. At COP26 it was obvious a perceived lack of generosity from richer nations was holding back efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The commitment to establish a dedicated “loss and damage” fund left many of the most controversial decisions on how it might work until next year, including who should pay into it.

☆ What are people saying about the COP27 deal?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I urge you to acknowledge when you walk out of this room, that we have all fallen short in actions to avoid and minimise loss and damage. "Too many parties are not ready to make more progress today in the fight against climate crisis." PAKISTAN CLIMATE CHANGE MINISTER SHERRY REHMAN"We have struggled for 30 year on this path and today in Sharm el-Sheikh this journey has achieved its first positive milestone ... MALDIVES CLIMATE CHANGE MINISTER AMINATH SHAUNA"I recognise the progress we made in COP 27 particularly on...the funding arrangements for loss and damage. And we were able to prevent a backslide behind the consensus of Glasgow and Paris (climate summits).

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt CNN —Delegates from nearly 200 counties at the COP27 climate summit have agreed to set up a “loss and damage” fund meant to help vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters, in a landmark deal early Sunday morning in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. And in previous public remarks, US Climate Envoy John Kerry had said loss and damage was not the same thing as climate reparations. “This loss and damage fund will be a lifeline for poor families whose houses are destroyed, farmers whose fields are ruined, and islanders forced from their ancestral homes,” World Resources Institute CEO Ani Dasgupta said. Beyond 1.5 degrees, the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages will increase dramatically, scientists said in the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. On Saturday, EU officials threatened to walk out of the meeting if the final agreement failed to endorse the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

[1/5] A general view of the entrance to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Centre grounds, during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 19, 2022. Kunal Satyarthi, a negotiator for India, said he thought the loss and damage deal would "certainly" pass, and thanked other countries for their flexibility. Norway's climate minister, Espen Barth Eide, meanwhile, said his country was happy with the agreement to create a loss and damage fund. But the possible breakthrough on loss and damage was significant, and "I don't think that should be lost in the mix," he said. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.

☆ Time running out for climate deals on final day of COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Global climate talks approached crunch time on Friday, the final scheduled day of negotiations that are expected to go past their deadline as chances of a deal still looked unclear. The document contained few new proposed solutions for curbing oil and gas emissions and repairing damage caused by climate change. The proposal would tie compensation for climate disasters to tougher emissions cuts, two of the thorniest issues at the meeting. In climate negotiations, loss and damage refers to the idea that rich nations, which have historically done the most to contribute to climate change, should compensate developing countries most impacted. Antigua and Barbuda’s environment minister says they have concerns about the EU proposal, while the environmental advocacy group Action Aid called it a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” because it doesn’t go far enough.

[1/3] Egyptian Foreign Minister and Egypt's COP27 President Sameh Shoukry attends an informal stocktaking session during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 18, 2022. But with several other sticking points dogging this year's U.N. climate talks, host country Egypt said a final deal was still not expected before the weekend. But it was unclear Friday if all of those countries would accept the EU's offer of a fund to aid only "the most vulnerable countries", rather than all developing countries as they had requested. On Friday morning, the U.N. climate agency published a first official draft of the final summit deal. Some countries, including the EU and Britain, have pushed for the overall deal in Egypt to lock in country commitments for more ambitious climate action.

☆ EU proposes midway path on climate damage fund to unblock COP27 talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU proposal would be to set up a special fund for covering loss and damage in the most vulnerable countries - but funded from a "broad donor base". "What we would propose is to establish a loss and damage response fund for the most vulnerable countries," EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans told the COP27 summit. The Alliance of Small Island States and the G77 club of 134 developing countries, who have both pushed for a new fund at COP27, were consulting on their response to the EU proposal. Pakistan's ambassador to South Korea, Nabeel Munir, said Timmermans' proposal was "positive news" but that some divisions remained. The EU offer is at odds with a proposal by developing countries and China that called for all developing countries to have access to the fund.

[1/5] Climate activists take part in a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 16, 2022. "There's still a lot of gaps in the texts," said a spokesperson for Britain's COP26 Presidency, which hosted last year's climate summit in Glasgow. EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said the first draft left a lot to be desired. TEMPERATURE TARGETOn limiting the global temperature rise, the document mirrors language included in last year's COP26 agreement. Temperatures have already increased by 1.1C, and are projected to blow past 1.5C without swift and deep cuts to emissions within this decade.

Brazil's 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro set the stage for all major international environmental agreements since, with the signing of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is aimed at preventing extreme climate change and was the foundation of the COP meetings. He said Lula would turn around Brazil's environmental policies "180 degrees" from those of Bolsonaro. Lula won office last month over Bolsonaro, who appointed climate skeptics as ministers and saw deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest spike to a 15-year high. On Thursday, Lula will meet with civil society and indigenous groups, as well as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans. Last month, Lula defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.

☆ EU supports COP27 call to phase down all fossil fuels
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The European Union supports a call by India to phase down fossil fuel use as part of a COP27 deal, the bloc's climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Tuesday, provided it does not weaken previous agreements on reducing the use of coal. India wants countries to agree to phase down all fossil fuels at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt, rather than a narrower deal to phase down coal that was agreed at COP26 last year. "We are in support of any call to phase down all fossil fuels," Timmermans told a news conference. A wider push to phase down use of all fossil fuels would put oil and gas consumers and producers in the spotlight as well as those countries that rely on coal. The document did not refer to fossil fuels, although a COP Presidency spokesperson later said the list was not exhaustive and did not contain the language that would be used in the final version.

☆ EU approves effective ban on new fossil fuel cars from 2035
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"This deal is good news for car drivers... new zero-emission cars will become cheaper, making them more affordable and more accessible to everyone," Parliament's lead negotiator Jan Huitema said. EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said the agreement sent a strong signal to industry and consumers. New vans must comply with a 100% CO2 cut by 2035, and a 50% cut by 2030 compared with 2021 levels. Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) boss Thomas Schaefer this week said that from 2033, the brand will only produce electric cars in Europe. Negotiators agreed on Thursday that the EU will draft a proposal on how cars that run on "CO2 neutral fuels" could be sold after 2035.

☆ EU seeking deals on three climate laws in time for U.N. summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The European Union is aiming to clinch deals on three new laws to fight climate change in time for the annual United Nations climate negotiations next month, in a bid to boost its political clout at the talks. But two weeks away from the COP27 summit in Egypt, only around two dozen countries have done so. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMeanwhile, the EU has agreed to speed up negotiations on three emissions-cutting laws, so it can arrive at the U.N. summit with newly-ambitious climate policies, EU officials told Reuters. "The EU has to be the bridge builder and you can only build bridges if you are seen as ambitious yourself," EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Monday. Ville Niinisto, Parliament's negotiator on the law, said having a deal before COP27 would show the EU "will do more than we promised".

☆ FOTO // Și Europa poate lua foc din cauza temperaturilor arzătoare; Care sunt țările cu cel mai mare risc la incendii
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-06 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +7 min

Țările europene expuse riscului de incendii forestiereÎn ultimii ani, impactul incendiilor forestiere asupra oamenilor și a naturii a crescut în toată Europa. Președintele Nicos Anastasiades a declarat că a fost o zi foarte dificilă pentru țară și a promis că guvernul va oferi ajutor imediat victimelor. După 10 zile de temperaturi extreme și secetă, insula Kefalonia a fost cuprinsă sâmbătă de incendii de proporții. Deși cauza incendiilor nu a fost încă stabilită, în Sicilia există o istorie a incendiilor provocate de disputele funciare. EPA/KATIA CHRISTODOULOUepa09321433 A view of the smoke emitted by a fire in the mountains, in Larnaca region, Cyprus, 03 July 2021.

Persons: Frans Timmermans, Anastasiades Organizations: Comisia Europeană, Mediului, Pădurilor, farm, July, EPA Locations: Europa, Mediterane, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Laponia, Europa Cipru, Cipru, Nicosia, Regiunea, Israel, UE, Ciprului, Grecia, Greciei, de Sud, Tesalia, Attica, Kefalonia, Spania, Casabermeja, Malaga, Andaluzia, Italia, Siciliei, Siracuza, Catania, Sicilia, epa09322099, Larnaca, Cyprus, Limassol, and spreading, Larnaca region

☆ Comisia Europeană este chemată să sprijine platforma online ECIPES27 concepută pentru a ajuta la depășirea consecințelor pandemiei
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-11 | by ( ) www.ipn.md time to read: +4 min

Prin aceasta, sprijinul UE va intra direct în casa cetățeanului. Prin programul ECIPES27, proiectele ecologice și bunele practici de succes pot fi reproduse în rețeaua localităților din UE și pot spori coeziunea comunității în care locuiesc cetățenii europeni. De la începutul pandemiei, rata șomerilor sub 25 de ani a crescut mai mult decât rata șomajului din alte categorii a populației. Prin aceasta, sprijinul UE va deveni pilonul care formează un nou mediu de afaceri, responsabil față de mediu ambient. Proiectele finanțate de UE prin ECIPES27 va corespunde priorităților de tranziție digital și ecologică, iar reducerea componentei birocratice va îmbunătăți fluxul și calitatea proiectelor implementate sub umbrela UE.

Persons: Frans Timmermans, Josep Borrell, Manfred Weber, Hahn Organizations: Comisia Europeană, UE, Europeană, PPE, Comisia Locations: Cetăţeni, UE, Europei, ECIPES27

☆ Comisia Europeană va prezenta anul viitor o propunere pentru a elimina vehiculele poluante
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-10 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +2 min

Comisia Europeană va prezenta la sfârşitul anului viitor o propunere de retragere de pe piaţă a vehiculelor cele mai poluante, a declarat joi vicepreşedintele Comisiei Europene însărcinat cu Pactul Verde al UE, Frans Timmermans, relatează agenţia EFE. ''Dorim să lucrăm la o revizuire a directivei privind durata de viaţă a vehiculelor. ''Este ceea ce ne cere industria auto şi este un lucru corect'', a menţionat Timmermans.Dar el a subliniat că strategia pentru a ajunge la un parc auto care să nu emită CO2 trebuie implementată progresiv. ''Fie că sunt autoturisme, furgonete sau camioane, când retragi vehiculele poluante vor sosi pas cu pas vehiculele cu emisii zero. Trebuie să fie o abordare pas cu pas, nu putem avea vehicule cu emisii zero de azi pe mâine.

Persons: Frans Timmermans Organizations: Europeană, UE Locations: UE, Luxemburg, Franţa, Spania

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