Climate, Sustainability and the Environment
The latest initiatives in the areas of energy and environmental protection law and regulation are driven by the theme of just transition to a low-carbon economy.
In the Spring Horizon Tracker we discussed the extensive legislative measures proposed by the European Commission over the preceding months with the overarching aim of reducing net emissions in the EU by at least 55% by 2030. As the year has progressed, catastrophic events such as the Ukraine crisis and the disruption of European and global energy markets leading to rising energy costs for consumers have seen the European Commission proposing to take further decisive action, including the introduction of the REPower Plan which, among other things, sets more ambitious carbon reduction targets to accelerate the green transition and reduce Europe's reliance on Russian fossil fuels. There are two new legislative changes relevant to this area in the Government's Summer Legislative Programme. They are the Circular Economies Bill and the Just Transition Commission Bill.
The unifying theme of all measures is transition: transition from an unsustainable linear take-make -waste consumption model towards a circular economy in the Circular Economies Bill; the establishment of a National Just Transition Commission to facilitate a fair and just transition to a low-carbon economy; and an acceleration of the green transition towards renewable energy and increased energy efficiency.
The commentary in this Horizon Tracker focuses on the impact of these initiatives in two sectors, the Food and Beverage sector and the Energy sector.