Browse Research

In December 2015, the European Commission published the new Circular Economy Package, containing a host of initiatives to reduce waste and to increase the longevity of products and materials, but it failed to set a headline target for reducing the EU’s use of resources. Such a target could help to increase political attention and visibility of the issue, stimulate long-term ambitions and streamline the action of all actors – both public and private – towards reducing the consumption of natural resources.

In order to gain political support for such a target, this CEPS Policy Brief highlights two preconditions that need to be obtained:

• The target needs to be based on an attractive vision for change shared by a majority of stakeholders (including business and industry).
• It needs to be based on robust and consistent indicators across the EU – both on the public and on the company level.

Meeting these two preconditions will considerably ease the introduction of a policy mix aimed at fostering more circular business models.

The publication Gender, Labour and a Just Transition Towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All highlights how a just transition with inclusive climate action can play a strong role in transforming gender norms and furthering gender equality.

The paper Fossil Fuel Subsidies Reduction and the World Trade Organization develops the contours of an ambitious approach to fossil fuel subsidy reform using the multilateral trade system.

Reflecting the growing momentum for carbon pricing worldwide, the 2017 edition of the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing targets the wide audience of public and private stakeholders engaged in carbon pricing design and implementation.

For the past 13 years, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) has been keeping track of countries’ efforts in combating climate change. The varying initial positions, interests and strategies of the numerous countries make it difficult to distinguish their strengths and weaknesses and the CCPI has been an important tool in contributing to a clearer understanding of national and international climate policy.