Carbon Constraint in the Mediterranean : Differentiated Impacts and Policies for Carbon Reduction in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
European Union’s energy goals for 2020, inclusion of aviation in EU ETS since 2012 and the important increase of CO2 emissions in Southern Mediterranean countries, all justify to pay careful attention to the challenges of the carbon constraint at the Euro-Mediterranean scale.
The notion of “carbon constraint” stems from the application of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and from the Kyoto Protocol that resulted in the implementation of the EU ETS in European Union countries. Contrary to European countries that committed to emissions reductions goals (“Annex I countries” of UNFCCC and “Annex B countries” of Kyoto Protocol), Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMC) (1), like other emergent countries, apply the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” that exempt them from adopting any binding emission reductions goals.
The extension of the EU ETS, with the auctioning of emission credits as of 2013, and the evolution, even though difficult, of international climate negotiations might nevertheless modify the situation of unbalanced commitments that prevails between Northern countries and Southern countries (section 1). Moreover, if the carbon constraint for European countries remains today soft, it might on a short or medium term generate several economic and social impacts, and potentially on the regional trade (section 2). Several green initiatives undertaken on the Southern shore to develop environmental policies and new carbon market mechanisms have to be supported so as to limit these negative impacts and to implement a virtuous regional momentum (section 3).
(1) Turkey is a special case since it belongs to the list of Annex I countries but is not on the list of countries that committed under the Kyoto Protocol
Authors :
Louis Boisgibault
President and co-founder of Valmere, a consultancy firm specializing in renewable energy, Louis Boisgibault teaches Master’s courses on energy, finance and carbon at Paris Dauphine University and sustainable development at HEC. He has worked at BNP Paribas, EDF and GDF SUEZ, mainly on energy projects, in Paris, Amsterdam and London.
Morgan MOZAS
Project officer, ipemed.
Table of contents
- Executive summary
- Introduction
- European carbon constraint versus non-binding CO2 rules in South and East Mediterranean Countries (SEMCs)
- Potential and visible effects of carbon constraint in Euro-Mediterranean countries: a non-exhaustive list of environmental, social and economic impacts
- Green initiatives in the Mediterranean Region
- Conclusion
- Annex
- Bibliography and reference books
- Acronyms
