BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – EU aspirations to stay at the vanguard of tackling global warming require increasingly ambitious targets, including the virtual elimination of carbon from European power generation by the middle of the century.

The goals have been complicated by the decision of Germany, Europe’s largest economy and biggest energy user, to abandon nuclear power in the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear disaster at Fukushima in March.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Twenty-six nations,
including the United States, are expected to lodge a formal
protest on Wednesday against a European Union law to make all
airlines travelling to and from Europe pay for their carbon
emissions.

The protest at the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) meeting in Montreal, Canada, is likely to escalate
transatlantic tension, which has triggered an anti-EU bill in
the U.S. Congress.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Twenty-six nations are expected to lodge a formal protest on Wednesday against a European Union law to make airlines pay for carbon emissions — adding to transatlantic tension on an issue that has triggered a tit-for-tat bill in the Congress.

Under EU legislation, from January 1 all flights to or from Europe will have to buy carbon permits to help offset their emissions under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) — the 27 member bloc’s prime tool for trying to curb the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The European Union on Thursday
unveiled draft plans to regulate offshore oil and gas across the
bloc and guard against a repeat of BP’s catastrophic Gulf
of Mexico spill as oil firms drill deeper to tap remaining
reserves.

Environmentalists welcomed the plans but said they did not
go far enough.

Oil and gas firms have said national legislation is already
adequate and the BP disaster was a result of safety lapses
within the company, not across the industry.

BRUSSELS/CALGARY, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Britain and Eastern
European countries joined Canada in its determined fight
against a European Union proposal to label tar sands-derived
crude as more highly polluting than other forms of oil, EU
sources said on Tuesday.

The moves show Canada, which is trying to protect markets
for its most lucrative export, is slowly gaining traction among
members of the bloc with its message that such a move would be
discriminatory, the country’s energy minister said.

BRUSSELS, Oct 24 (Reuters) – European Union commissioners
are expected on Tuesday to approve draft transparency rules for
mining, forestry and energy, which resource companies said
could impede access to oil, gas and other assets in disputed
areas, such as the Caspian.

In a letter to the EU financial regulation chief, a group
of companies objected to a proposal for reporting on a
project-by-project basis, not just at a government level.

BRUSSELS, Oct 24 (Reuters) – EU commissioners are expected
on Tuesday to approve draft transparency rules for mining,
forestry and energy firms, which resource companies said could
impede access to oil, gas and other assets in disputed areas,
such as the Caspian.

In a letter to the European Union’s financial regulation
chief, a group of companies objected to a proposal to include
reporting not just at government level, but on a
project-by-project basis.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The government of Alberta, home to the bulk of Canada’s oil sands, has written to EU experts voicing “grave concerns” the bloc’s plans to rank unconventional oil as a highly polluting fuel are unfair and a potential threat to trade ties.

“The proposed measure has been deliberately crafted in such a way as to discriminate specifically and uniquely against oil sands derived fuels,” said a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The government of Alberta, home to the bulk of Canada’s oil sands, has written to EU experts voicing “grave concerns” the bloc’s plans to rank unconventional oil as a highly polluting fuel are unfair and a potential threat to trade ties.

“The proposed measure has been deliberately crafted in such a way as to discriminate specifically and uniquely against oil sands derived fuels,” said a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) – European Union spot
carbon permits face regulation alongside other financial
instruments under proposed laws published on Thursday as the EU
Commission seeks to bolster a market shaken by fraud and
oversupply.

The EU Commission has proposed that spot carbon permits
should be classified as financial instruments, adding to
futures, forwards and options which are already covered by
financial market rules (MiFID).