Documents energy 345 results

"Governments at the EU and the member state level are placing increased emphasis on public research and development (R&D) for energy and the environment to advance a circular economy (CE). To achieve CE goals, it is critical to engage SMEs as they represent the vast majority of enterprises in the EU. To date, there is a lack of evidence regarding the impact of these public R&D investments on SMEs' CE activities. We address this gap by analysing the impact of public environmental and energy R&D on CE implementation and investment by SMEs. The study draws from a multi-level database of 10,618 SMEs across 28 EU member states for the period 2013–2015 from the Flash Eurobarometer 441 survey and country-level data from other EU sources. Employing a mixed-level probit regression, we find that the knowledge generated by public environmental and energy R&D, defined as country-level investments in this activity from 2004 to 2015, positively affects SMEs' implementation of CE activities. Additionally, the study finds that public environmental and energy R&D affects the level of SMEs' investment in CE activities negatively, suggesting that more public R&D can substitute for the financial efforts that SMEs have to take when implementing CE activities."

"Globally, aviation accounts for a modest share of World total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from today's energy use. However, air transport has been rapidly increasing and many other sectors are expected to reduce their emissions. Hence, aviation's share of global emissions can be foreseen to rise and will constitute a significant part of the problem unless strong counteracting initiatives are taken. Efforts regarding aviation have so far been limited, although despite significant technological improvements of aircraft energy efficiency over the past decades. The Nordic countries all have high ambitions to become more environmentally sustainable. The aim of this report is to examine challenges and opportunities for increased Nordic cooperation with regards to increasing sustainability of aviation and, based on evaluation of alternative options, propose common policy measures."

"How do we ensure gender balanced climate policies? This policy brief provides conclusions and recommendations based on the report "How climate policies impact gender and vice versa in the Nordic countries".The Nordic countries have set-out ambitious climate mitigation targets that require structural changes of the Nordic societies in terms of how we move, live, eat, and consume in a low carbon manner. Climate action plans draw the paths of how each of the Nordic countries are to realise these climate mitigation targets. While all the Nordic countries acknowledge that climate policies impact gender, the actual gender mainstreaming of the climate action plans is limited. The policy brief provides recommendations on how to move forward towards how gender-responsive climate policies can be ensured."