ALBERT

Description: The international health crisis has exposed a serious problem for energy systems – we’re not taking renewable energy technology seriously as a critical asset. Most solar panels today are made in China, and a shortage of key components means that Europe is now facing major delays in new installations. Wind power faces a double whammy – manufacturing is down, and countries may not have the personnel and parts locally to keep systems running. Countries should aim to build up national clean tech infrastructure in the same way that they ensure strategic reserves of fossil fuels.

Description: This IASS study takes an in-depth look at Covid-19's impacts on the global energy sector, and then zooms in to the country level to see individual country effects and responses. The case studies are compiled by energy researchers in Argentina, China, Germany, India, Israel, and the United States.

Description: The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is expected to launch in October 2023, with reporting obligations only. The scheme aims to ensure that European efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions do not induce so-called ‘carbon leakage’, which could occur if companies based in the EU relocate carbon-intensive production to countries with less ambitious climate standards or increase imports of carbon-intensive products to the EU. The mechanism will require companies importing certain products to the EU to offset embedded GHG emissions by purchasing CBAM certificates, thus ensuring that the carbon price of imported products is equivalent to that of products made by European producers under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). CBAM’s effectiveness and impact will be evaluated by the EU towards the end of its phase-in period. This evaluation will likely lead to adjustments in the mechanism’s design and will be followed closely by third countries considering the introduction of similar instruments. Economies and sectors dependent on exports to the EU will be both more exposed and vulnerable to the mechanism. In this policy brief we explore the views of stakeholders in South Africa, the EU’s largest trading partner in Africa, and consider measures necessary to ensure that CBAM addresses issues of justice and sustainability. In particular we identify three key recommendations for European policymakers.

Description: The UK aims to become a leader in green industries by developing a competitive hydrogen industry, bringing new jobs, and revitalizing peripheral areas of the country. Hydrogen is also seen as an opportunity for the country to improve its energy security, as extracting fossil fuels is increasingly costly and unfeasible given the UK’s decarbonization goals. Its hydrogen strategy takes a “twin track” approach, that is, simultaneously promoting hydrogen from gas with carbon capture and hydrogen from low-carbon electricity. The UK strategy focuses on the importance of applying hydrogen to industry including chemicals, steel, and glass. However, its funding and research initiatives rather place an emphasis on developing local hydrogen markets by using hydrogen for heating and transportation. In the short term, the UK aims to develop “blue” hydrogen, which is perceived as cheaper, to replace household gas use. Funding for hydrogen innovation comes from the government, but revenue support is likely to be funded by levies on energy consumption. This approach seems unlikely to result in the green industrial leadership the government hopes to achieve. The unwillingness of the government to take strategic decisions on hydrogen types and uses means that its funding is stretched across different cases. And, while the UK participates in international standard-setting initiatives to better participate in global markets, it is not officially coordinating with or investing in hydrogen infrastructure that could connect it with Europe and thereby enable regional hydrogen trade. Given the rise in industrial policy measures including for hydrogen in the US and EU, the UK’s goal of becoming a major hydrogen player seems unlikely without a significant change in policy clarity and ambition.

Description: Exhibiting the fastest growth among all fuels in the electricity sector, renewables are about to fundamentally change the energy system. This change is hoped to bring about important social and economic co-benefits, including sustainable and affordable energy for all, green job opportunities, and increased human health and wellbeing. But there may also be some fundamentally political implications of the low carbon shift. This is what a high level group of global leaders was tasked to look into, the result of which was published in their recent report titled A New World The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation, published by IRENA, the international renewable energy agency. To be sure, the IRENA report is not the first one to ponder the geopolitics of the low carbon transition. For example, a recent book took a deeper look into the geopolitics of renewables, Harvard’s Belfer Center put together a group to tackle similar questions, Nature, the journal, featured a piece on low carbon policy risk, and a recent paper offers some important conceptual insights for the fate of oil producer economies whose business case might wither away. But the report by the Global Commission is the first one which comes close to representing a political document. So what do we learn from it?

Description: Am 20. Januar tritt Joseph Biden sein Amt als 46. Präsident der USA an. Dies weckt große Hoffnungen für die internationalen Klimaschutzbemühungen. Doch die jüngsten Unruhen in Washington haben nochmals verdeutlicht: Biden übernimmt die Führung eines tief gespaltenen Landes – der Klimaschutz ist da keine Ausnahme. Während 87 Prozent der Demokratinnen und Demokraten den Klimawandel als wichtige Bedrohung wahrnehmen, ist dies nur bei 31 Prozent der Republikanerinnen und Republikaner der Fall. Unter den republikanischen Kongressabgeordneten sitzen auch im neuen Kongress etwa 130 Klimawandelleugner. Wie sehen Bidens klimapolitische Ambitionen aus und kann er sie angesichts dieser Herausforderungen umsetzen?

Description: The European Union will implement a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), in order to address potential carbon leakage due to ambitious climate policies. However, there are concerns regarding the climate justice implications of this measure. We provide evidence from a recent study that that there is an unequal distribution of CBAM impacts with most countries facing relatively high risks located in Africa and South-Eastern European countries. Therefore, CBAM could shift the burden of fighting climate change to more vulnerable low-income and middle-income countries who are less responsible for climate change. We suggest ways to mitigative these risks and ensure international cooperation to fight climate change: Use the revenues generated through the EU CBAM to support decarbonization and strengthen emissions monitoring and verification capacities of low-income and middle-income countries. Continue and intensify consultations with stakeholders outside the EU and involve such stakeholders in CBAM design.

Description: Countries are increasingly linking climate and trade with measures like the US Inflation Reduction Act and EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) although other countries have critiqued these measures including at COP27. However, the EU maintains that the CBAM will only minimally impact trade while simultaneously leveraging further climate action. As the design of CBAM is being negotiated, with the trial period beginning in early 2023, what should we know about CBAM?

Description: Die Coronakrise entfacht zahlreiche Diskussionen neu. Dazu gehört etwa die Frage, in welchen Bereichen Deutschland oder zumindest Europa unabhängig von anderen Ländern sein sollte - Beispiel Schutzmaskenproduktion. Diese Frage sollte sich Deutschland auch bei den erneuerbaren Energien stellen, findet Silvia Weko vom IASS Potsdam.

Description: Wenn die EU einen CO2-Grenzausgleich (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM) einführt, könnten Länder, denen die Ressourcen für die Dekarbonisierung fehlen, schwerwiegende wirtschaftliche Folgen zu spüren bekommen. Die EU sollte daher mögliche politische Risiken berücksichtigen und Stakeholder aus Drittstaaten in die Gestaltung des CBAM einbeziehen. Sie sollte mit den CBAM-Einnahmen die Dekarbonisierung in den von Risiken betroff enen Ländern fördern und die Emissionsberichterstattung mit bestehenden internationalen Vorgaben verknüpfen.