Decarbonisation

Europe’s car-producing regions know that decarbonisation will hit the traditional car industry hard and result in thousands of job losses. For them, the name of the game now is how to limit the damage, and how the EU can help. A Committee of the Regions conference held in Brussels on 22 May brought together experts and industry players from the 36 regions of the ‘Automotive Regions Alliance’ – a group that focuses on how car manufacturing regions can navigate Europe’s decarbonisation journey. For these regions, the future of European car-making is critical. “The automotive industry … generates over 7% of EU’s GDP and around 13.8 million people work in it, creating important multiplier effects in supplier industries” explained Emil Boc, chair of the CoR’s commission for territorial cohesion policy and EU budget, and mayor of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoc. A just transition for car manufacturing...

As government leaders and climate negotiators gather in Dubai for the COP28 United Nations climate conference, an enormous challenge looms over the proceedings: decarbonizing the global industrial sector. Industry has accounted for over 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions in recent years. It is the single largest emitting sector when accounting for its electricity use and heat generation. For countries to meet their goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, stopping emissions from carbon-intensive industries like steel, cement and chemicals is imperative. There are promising technologies and innovations that can drive decarbonization in industry: green hydrogen fuel made from clean electricity and water, energy efficiency measures across supply chains, and carbon capture, use and storage to name a few. However, these solutions have yet to be deployed at the speed and scale required to slow global warming. Global industrial emissions will need to fall by 25% by 2030 for the...