Postal regulators divided on whether and how to add new environmental powers
18 December 24
Peter Dunn
Postal national regulatory authorities differ on whether there should be specific powers for them to intervene on environmental matters. A majority believed that it would be valuable to have a new power to gather data on environmental sustainability, However, regulators are divided on whether they should have powers to intervene specifically on environmental matters, with the majority being against a new power to set environmental targets.
BEREC suggests a new environmental sustainability objective for electronic communications regulators
17 December 24
Bianca Sofian
BEREC published a draft report on the role of infrastructure sharing for the environmental sustainability of electronic communications networks and services. BEREC is consulting until 31 January 2025 on the draft report, with the final report expected in June 2025.
Explainer: Carbon capture and storage
17 December 24
Emilie Degand
Explainer on carbon capture and storage (CCS)
CSRD transposition: Belgium and Latvia adopt final transposition laws
17 December 24
Bianca Sofian
13 member states are still in the process of transposing the CSRD directive, while three others have not transposed it fully.
No agreement on global plastic pollution treaty
06 December 24
Emilie Degand
An international meeting of 170 countries failed to agree on an international legally-binding treaty for plastic pollution. The divergences in opinion included disagreements between developed and developing countries, and also arising from the strong positioning of oil-producing countries. The most controversial discussions concerned allowing decision-making by majority vote instead of consensus; putting limits on plastic production; covering the entire life cycle of plastics or only waste management; reducing harmful chemicals; and funding.
COP 29 establishes new goal for climate finance and operationalises carbon markets
29 November 24
Emilie Degand
COP29 established a new collective quantified goal on climate finance, aiming to reach US$300 billion annually by 2035. There was also agreement on a wider target, to be made up from other public and private financing, of US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035. Countries also agreed on the operationalisation of carbon markets, and of the loss and damage fund. However, COP29 made only limited progress on adaptation and mitigation, failing in particular to build upon the COP28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels.