On June 24, 2013, The European Institute welcomed His Excellency Petr Gandalovic, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States, to a discussion on the challenges of moving towards a low-carbon economy at a time of economic austerity. The Ambassador gave prepared remarks on behalf of the Minister of Environment, The Honorable Tomas Chalupa, and offered his country’s perspective on mitigating the impact of climate change, while furthering efforts to diversify energy resources and build a sustainable economic recovery. The Honorable Tomas Tesar, Deputy Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic, also participated in the panel discussion.

By Zachary Laven, European Affairs Editorial Assistant

In the tug-of-war over new EU rules levying carbon taxes on airlines’ flights, the U.S. has signaled for the first time that failure to change or at least postpone the European plan could hold up future progress on global climate-change talks.

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Somber headlines abound these days about the lack of global progress in combating climate change. Certainly, the renewable energy business in the U.S. has entered a rough patch.

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Time to Reform the EU Emission Trading Scheme by Thomas Spencer and Emmanuel Guérin in European Energy Review. The EU’s pioneering Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has come to be seen as largely ineffectual as a cap-and-trade approach to curbing carbons. This comprehensive analysis recommends major reforms to save it. Recommended by European Affairs. (1/27)

On November 28, 2011, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Ecologic Institute, hosted Karl Falkenberg, Director General of the DG Environment at the European Commission, who discussed the need for sustainable environmental growth and emphasized the importance of resource efficiency as means towards a circular, sustainable economy. He stressed the importance of creating a common sustainable growth strategy between the U.S. and Europe, as well as the necessity to include the developing countries into the dialogue for the recovery of sustainable resources.  Dominic Marcellino, Fellow at the Ecologic Institute moderated the discussion.