by Leticia Phillips | Jun 30, 2015 | Sem categoria
Today, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is visiting Washington, D.C. to strengthen the relationship between two of the Western Hemisphere’s biggest nations. But as with any successful relationship, compromise is key on important issues, and President Rousseff plans...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jun 29, 2015 | Sem categoria
Here we are! The ILUC file is finally over and now it seems that no one wants to hear more about biofuels, especially the Commission. However, biofuels are alive and kicking and there has been evidence of their presence in the past few weeks! During his opening speech...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jun 9, 2015 | Sem categoria
I recently attended a conference in Brussels on the negotiations of the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). The negotiations, which were mandated by the 2001 Doha Declaration, were launched on a plurilateral basis in July last year by a group of WTO countries...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 29, 2015 | Sem categoria
Members of the European Parliament finally endorsed the COREPER text on ILUC yesterday morning in plenary. After the disappointment of not winning concessions from Member States on any of their main points, MEPs have – against the will of many – voted in favour of the...
by Géraldine Kutas | Mar 16, 2015 | Sem categoria
Working for Brazilian interests, you may say my judgment is biased, but I just can’t help praising the decision taken by the Brazilian government to increase, today, the ethanol blend in gasoline to 27%. This move is expected to have a positive impact on the biofuels...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 22, 2015 | Sem categoria
Well before we started thinking about our New Year’s resolutions, the European Commission published on 16 December its work programme for 2015, based on 23 new initiatives built around 10 key policy priorities. We can only applaud the targeted nature of measures...
by Géraldine Kutas | Nov 6, 2014 | Sem categoria
On 24 October European leaders reached an agreement on the framework which will set the energy and climate scene for the next 15 years. The deal embraces several elements which will form the basis of the legislative proposals to be developed by the European...
by Géraldine Kutas | Oct 23, 2014 | Sem categoria
After two intense weeks of confirmation hearings in the Parliament, highly political discussions in Brussels, Strasbourg and EU capitals and after a mini re-shuffle of portfolios, the Junker Commission has been confirmed by the Parliament. It was described by Mr...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 17, 2014 | Sem categoria
It’s good to see that a highly regarded institution, like the United Nations, has just released a new report that has the courage to simply follow the empirical evidence about the benefits of responsibly produced biofuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 4, 2014 | Sem categoria
This week the United Nations scientific panel on climate change (IPCC) published its latest report on climate change. The report, echoing its past findings about a clear link between climate change and human factors driving that change, argues that immediate action is...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 16, 2014 | Sem categoria
With the European Commission days away from releasing its policy proposal on so-called 2030 climate and energy targets, it’s worth taking stock of how this position will negatively impact the decarbonization of the transport sector and how once again this Commission...