On 7 September, the Commission adopted a Green Bond framework. Under the independently evaluated framework, the EU intends to issue up to €250 billion in green bonds between now and end-2026 (30% of the NextGenerationEU’s total issuance). The bonds will be issued through auctions, taking place once per month, on the fourth Monday of the month. The first issuances are planned for October 2021.
In August, DG ENV presented a study that outlines how to provide a better overview of forest-related certification schemes and the differences between them. The main finding of the study is that that certification can provide significant support to operators in their efforts to meet EU Timber Regulation obligations for due diligence. Furthermore, certification can control and manage fraud and corruption in the sector.
Bioenergy Europe’s Secretariat submitted its resp
The Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Platform has opened a public consultation to gather further evidence and feedback on the proposed draft recommendations for the technical screening criteria. The final report will be presented in November 2021 and will be used by the European Commission as a starting point to define its delegated acts. The current draft report is negatively biased towards the bioenergy sector. The secretariat will circulate a draft reply. For more information, please contact Giulia Cancian.
Bioenergy Europe’s
On 14 July the European Commission published a package of legislative proposal collectively called “Fit-for-55″, designed to help the EU meet its climate goals. In addition to a communication on the package, the package includes revisions to: the EU ETS (including changes to aviation and how it will interact with CORSIA), the Effort Sharing Regulation, the LULUCF Regulation, REDIII, EED, CO2
The proposal includes important changes to the criteria including a lower exemption threshold (above 5MW); establishment of NO-GO areas with the extension of existing land criteria for agricultural biomass also to forest biomass (including primary, highly biodiverse forests and peatlands). Furthermore, new
The text rightly promotes the switch from fossil fuel heating systems to RES and stresses the need for consistency with the EPBD. The shortage of RHC installers is recognised as a barrier to phasing out fossil fuel systems. Nevertheless, the renewable heat targets in Article 23 remain disproportionally low, setting a business-as-usual approach which will not be enough to achieve the new 49% renewables in buildings target set out in Article 15. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The European Commission released the legislative proposal for a revision of Energy Taxation Directive. As one of the main changes, the scope was extended on solid wood products within categories within CN codes 4401 and 4402 which include: fuel wood, briquettes, pellets etc. Moreover, it replaces also the general rule of taxation of energy products based on its volume by their energy content. The Secretariat has drafted the ETD Policy Brief which will guide you through the main building blocks of the revision. The public consultation is open until midnight (Brussels time) 10 September. Bioenergy Europe will submit a rely and encourages members to submit individual replies. For more information, please contact Michal Dlugosz
Bioenergy Europe published a joint statement with associations representing the forest and forest-based sectors titled: Improper Sustainability Framework for Forest Biomass Could Challenge the EU’s Renewable Energy Ambitions and Harm the Rural Economy. The paper expresses concern regarding the rigid application of the cascading principle, the creation of no-go areas for forest biomass, the application of retroactive measures, and short review timelines. The statement was also signed by CEPF, Cepi, Copa-Cogeca, ELO, EOS, and Eustafor. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
