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10 Renewable Energy L. & Pol'y Rev. 3 (2020-2022)

handle is hein.journals/relp10 and id is 1 raw text is: Dear Reader, In our last issue we expressed the hope that the measures in the fight against the COVID-crisis will be successful and sustainable and at least in the long term help us to set the right course in the fight against the other crisis of our present: the climate crisis. As you are well aware, unfortunately we are still far away from a recovery - be it green or otherwise. However, on the EU Level, I am pleased to see that significant strides are being taken to give shape to the Green Deal and to develop a pathway to a decarbonised Europe. On the one hand, debates in the EP around the European Climate Law have shown that a higher ambition to raise the 2030 GHG reduction target has become politically feasible. The German Council Presidency so far seems to rather endorse the 55 % GHG reduction target proposal of the EC than to proceed more courageously. In contradiction to that, the highest environmental authority of Germany, the Umweltbundesamt (UBA), just published a study arguing for the necessity of a higher goal. UBA argues that, from a scientific point of view, the 60 % target is the absolute minimum that would be necessary to counteract climate change with meaningful measures, and recommends a reduction target of 65 %. The study also presents policy options on how to achieve that goal and argues that a reform of the EU emissions trading system would be key. At the same time, even though many of the discussed policies of the European Green Deal are still in development, there is a distinct concern in the industry on whether a green transformation can be achieved whilst staying globally competitive. In some sectors like the steel industry, there are already distinct differences between the production standards and costs in and outside of Europe. This heightens the risk of carbon leakage, i.e. the process of European manufacturers moving their production sites to countries where they can produce under lower social and environmental standards. As the European Green Deal aims to tackle a global problem, the EU plans to lead by example and use diplomacy, trade and development cooperation as well as setting standards for sustainable growth across global value chains. Ideally, the EU and its industry can play a pioneering role in this effort and thus use the European Green Deal as a business chance instead of perceiving climate action as a hindering measure. The success of that approach very much depends on the concrete design of the policies connecting European Climate Ambition with the rest of the world. A key policy for that will be the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The Commission has just closed on a consultation aiming at feedback for different policy options on how to implement such a mechanism and aims to publish a legislative proposal in 2021. E E 0 m