Amongst the many initiatives from the European Union to fight climate change and achieve net-zero by 2050, one that has been gaining traction for industries with high carbon emissions is the possibility to buy carbon credits, in order to contribute to carbon offsetting.

Since 2005, energy-heavy industries have been subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which sets a price for emissions in order to promote the transition to a carbon-neutral industry. In essence, what carbon offsetting does is reduce or remove carbon by compensating for emissions made elsewhere - and start-ups based in European cities are leading the charge on this.

The European Commission recently announced an update to the Industrial Emissions Directive as part of the European Green Deal. The Directive includes a set of rules that will cover more effective permits for installations, supporting the industry’s circular economy investments, and synergies between depollution and decarbonisation, while putting innovation stage-centre by offering support to EU frontrunners. It’s stipulated that Member States have 18 months to transform these rules into national legislation - a challenging race against the clock.

So what role do cities play in this reworked Directive? My thoughts, in this week’s blog for Europe of Cities.

Intercity connectivity is a major initiative with the potential to change the game plan for socioeconomic development across the globe. Within the larger context of globalisation, intra and interregional cooperation are key factors and, in this context, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has a huge opportunity to become an accelerator for worldwide development. But what exactly is the BRI, and what are the challenges ahead in today’s complex political climate?