The Climate policies and energy transition research axis whithin Ifri's Center for Energy & Climate deals with the climate change policies adopted at national levels, as well as the positions of the main emitting countries in the international climate negociations. In particular, this area focuses on the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate and global efforts to reduce green-house gas emissions to limit the increase of temperature at +1,5° by 2100.
Director of Ifri’s Center for Energy & Climate
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Head of EU Policies, Center for Energy & Climate
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Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate
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Associate Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate
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The world’s largest emitting countries are reconsidering the role of carbon pricing instruments and increasingly looking at carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) to address leakage concerns. This renewed momentum should trigger a broader discussion on how to make trade policies...
The European Union’s energy infrastructure policy has become obsolete with the adoption of both the Green Deal and the 2050 climate neutrality target. The ongoing review of the regulation on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) should lead to an-depth discussion on Europe’s energy transition...
In recent years, Denmark has steadily emerged as a leader and role model in the global green energy transition. Its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 2010 have been reduced at greater pace than those of the European Union (EU) average.
Aligning its climate and industrial policies, the European Union (UE) is introducing sustainability requirements for the whole life-cycle of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This initiative would not only ensure that EVs fit with Europe’s climate-neutrality and resource-efficiency pledges, but...
2020 marked the beginning of the total phasing out of electricity production based on coal, as well as coal extraction in Germany. Laws implemented in 2020 concluded a governmental process started in 2015, which itself resulted from a prior broader debate on the role of coal in a viable and...
In order to have any chance of limiting global warming to well below +2°C, there is no choice but to tackle coal-fired power plants head-on, around the world.
The Trump administration has been very actively designing and implementing a new strategy for reliable supply of critical minerals which aims at reducing the country’s vulnerabilities and becoming a leader in this field.
For most of United States (US) history, environmental issues enjoyed bipartisan support. While Democratic President Johnson signed the Clean Air Act in 1963, Republican President Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. America’s “environmental decade”...
Energy and electricity policy, planning and regulation in South Africa has been slow and bureaucratic, lacking visionary leadership, and marred by uncertainty. Policy positions and actions taken have tended to be reactive, and driven more by crisis management than by forward-looking leadership...
This study assesses the prospects of a hydrogen economy with Chinese characteristics. Against the backdrop of an escalating US-China trade war and the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, key Chinese stakeholders become increasingly interested in moving the hydrogen economy agenda...
Hydrogen will play a role for reaching climate neutrality and is key to industrial recovery strategies in Europe. Japan and Germany have developed large hydrogen import plans, while others, such as Australia, Chile, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Spain, Portugal or Russia, are planning for exports....
President Xi has surprised both the world and Chinese stakeholders in announcing the carbon neutrality objective by 2060. Yet the first announcements on China’s new Five Year Plan give little hope for a substantial policy adjustment in order to peak greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years...
Electricity systems of the North-West area of continental Europe will go through fundamental changes in the coming years. Decarbonization and diversification strategies adopted in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands will lead to a swift phase out of large amounts of dispatchable coal...
Italy is firmly committed to decarbonizing its economy, with policy measures including phasing out coal by 2025, encouraging home renovations with generous tax breaks and expanding the use of renewables in the electricity, heating, and transport sectors.
President Trump has broken but not terminated the global climate governance. President-elect Biden aims to reintegrate the Paris Agreement and engage the US into a major energy transformation.
For Europe to reach climate neutrality by 2050, the European Commission (EC) expects offshore wind capacity to go from 23 GW today to up to 450 GW, with half of this capacity to be installed in the North Sea, the pioneer region with still large untapped wind resources.
The European Council’s political agreement on the recovery fund and 2021-2027 budget paves the way to a large-scale response to the economic recession with a strong emphasis on climate protection.
Ahead of Germany's EU Council presidency and amidst debates over the EU recovery plan and 2021-2027 budget, what happens in Berlin critically matters.
EU’s carbon neutrality objective requires to decarbonize all sectors and notably, all gases. Decarbonized hydrogen has now been recognized as a critical element of a carbon neutral economy and energy system. The EU should aim for global leadership in this field while Japan, California or China...
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The two countries have been solid partners throughout the Trump era and France is now watching China’s investments closely, both at home and abroad.
Asia’s biggest economy wants to promote fuel cells for trucks. Renewable energy investments should make hydrogen less costly. Tesla Inc.Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has spent years mocking the idea of using hydrogen fuel cells rather than electric batteries to power next-generation green...
Governments across the globe are increasingly focusing on the benefits of sustainable energy and Qatar is no different. As part of its national vision, the country is working to create harmony between environmental protection and economic growth.
Following the 18 May Franco-German initiative and ahead of next week's critical presentation (27 May) by the European Commission of the European recovery plan aligned with the carbon neutrality objective, Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega, Director of Ifri's Center for Energy &...
Economic recovery measures taken by several governments in the world so far are not aligned with the Paris Agreement. Yet some governments took important steps in the right direction but they are often insufficient. Two cases stand out : South Korea and the EU. But delivering on the ambitions...
The price of CO2 credits on Europe’s emissions trading scheme needs to rise to around €50 per tonne in order to drive the long-term development of Europe’s biomethane industry, says Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega, a French researcher.
The prospects for biogas in Europe look bright, with conservative estimates pointing to a tenfold increase in production by 2030. However, the industry will need to stay rooted in the local economy and come clean on environmental credentials if it wants to avoid a green backlash, analysts say....
Over and again, legislators worldwide are confronting the same question: which technologies do we subsidise and support, when, by how much, and for how long. Get it right and those costs will reduce and should disappear once scale is reached. Solar and wind are on their way to proving...
Carole Mathieu of the French Institute of International Relations explains some of the developments between the EU battery manufacturing and automaker industries and how they impact on the region's contributions towards the global energy storage market.
Belgium is slowly phasing out its aging nuclear energy infrastructure. But looming winter weather, limited renewable options and a poorly connected electricity network have left the country at risk of blackouts.
