Focus area

Sustainable Economy

Financing a green and just transition is one of the greatest challenges in the fight against climate change: decades of inaction and investments into fossil fuels leave us limited time to reach net-zero by 2050.

Solutions are complicated and encompass a range of tools and initiatives.

We seek to identify and push for a sustainable economy that enables and deploys low-carbon and renewable technologies & solutions. 

In short:

  • The flow of capital to projects and initiatives delivering real climate action must be increased.

  • To enable, deploy, and scale real climate solutions, support mechanisms need to be identified and an appropriate regulatory framework must be implemented.

  • Fair and competitive market conditions are needed for low-carbon and renewable technologies & solutions to thrive.

Economic systems still operate in a way that disproportionately favours fossil-based over renewable and low-carbon activities. Our work on a sustainable economy has its basis in observed failures of markets to deliver on their own in the fight against climate change.  

Public funding and support mechanisms are widely needed across a range of topics to help facilitate technological development, innovation and deployment of climate solutions. Private financing has an important role to play. It is also crucial that clear and credible classification mechanisms, and transparent information on economic activities’ contribution to real climate action, are made available. This will foster an increased flow of private and public capital to the right projects in the fight to tackle climate change. 

Uncertainties and risks are the main barriers standing in the way of long-term development of low-carbon and renewable markets. Ensuring a predictable and harmonised regulatory framework across Europe has been a building block in our work to foster such developments since our founding. This is particularly important in the context of ensuring fair and competitive markets taking into account the need and value of real climate action. 

Related focus areas

Publications related to focus area

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Making a Difference in European Carbon: fitting in a CBAM to support heavy industry transformation

This report models four scenarios for how a CBAM could be made part of the Fit for 2030 package to be launched in July 2021 as part of the EU Green Deal agenda and concludes that at least 75% coverage for the selected sectors should be pursued. This option has the benefit of generating more income for innovation and deployment earlier on in Phase IV (already in 2026) therefore having the possibility of turning the next decade into one of action and success for the transformation of heavy industry in the EU.

Undefined ‘decarbonised’ gas has no role on path to net-zero by 2050

As efforts to decarbonise our economy and energy systems pick up, we are seeing an increased reliance on decarbonized fuels, gas in particular - often times referred to as “renewable” and “low-carbon” gases. While low carbon intensity gases and fuels can contribute on the path to net-zero by 2050 – the terminology is confusing, with no common definition to determine when in fact a gas or fuel is renewable or low-carbon. 

Feedback Response – Competition Policy supporting the Green Deal

The goal of EU competition rules is to promote and protect effective competition in markets, delivering efficient outcomes to the benefit of consumers. Bellona Europa has responded to the call for contributions to gather ideas on how EU competition policy can best support the Green Deal. As Executive Vice President Vestager has underlined: “To succeed, everyone in Europe will have to play their part – every individual, every public authority. And that includes competition enforcers.”. Our overarching point is that it is necessary to amend the state aid rulebook and the interpretation of legislation to safeguard the climate impact credibility of the funds under state aid.

Consultation Response – Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as part of the EU Green Deal policy portfolio. This new mechanism is aiming at counteract this risk of limited ambitions by international partners by putting a carbon price on imports of certain goods from outside the EU. As an environmental policy tool, with a trade and competitiveness dimension, the CBAM will enable the EU to take fuller responsibility for the carbon footprint of its imports.

BellonaBrief: Brexit Implications on Climate, Energy and Environment

On 24 June 2016 the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the European Union. Many resources are now likely to be diverted from running the EU and progressing important policies toward instead managing and negotiating the referendum implications. While many uncertainties and questions remain to be addressed, one thing remains certain: Bellona has championed environmental and climate protection in Europe from outside EU membership for over 20 years and will continue to do so. While domestic implications for the UK remain unclear, NGOs’ voices in Europe will continue to be heard.

Bellona Response to the Consultation on Revision of the EU Emission Trading System Directive

In October 2014 the European Council reached an agreement on a 2030 Climate and Energy Framework, featuring a binding domestic target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of at least 40% in 2030 as compared to 1990. To meet this target, the European Council agreed that the emissions in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) should be reduced, compared to 2005, by 43%. The purpose of this EC-conducted consultation was to gather stakeholders' views on key elements, including free allocation to industry, the establishment of a modernisation and an innovation fund, and optional free allocation of allowances to modernise electricity generation in some Member States. Here are Bellona's recommendations, with a particular focus on the modalities governing the envisaged innovation fund.

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Lead Markets 101

The fundamental step of creating green lead markets is to generate a comprehensive CO2-footprint of a good or service in order to identify what is ‘green’ and which products should be pulled to the market. To ensure alignment with carbon neutrality goals, such a system needs to account for the whole lifecycle carbon of a product and include both the ‘operational carbon’, so the CO2 emitted during the use of a product, and the ‘embodied carbon’. The latter refers to the CO2 from input materials and processes going into a product, as well as the emissions resulting from products’ refurbishment and end-of-life treatment. 

The people involved

Lina Strandvåg Nagell

Senior Manager Projects & EU Policy

lina@bellona.org +32 (0) 489 638 843

Hanna Biro

Policy Advisor

hanna@bellona.org +32 (0) 467 754 344

Francesco Lombardi Stocchetti

Policy Advisor, Sustainable Finance & Economy

francesco@bellona.org +32 (0) 473 903 973

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