Climate change policy

EU countries have reached agreements on proposed laws to combat climate change on Wednesday night. They backed the phasing out of new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2035 and the creation of a multi-billion-euro fund to protect poorer citizens from spending on products that produce carbon dioxide, Reuters reported.

Brussels – Following a meeting of the EU Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, where more ambitious green energy and energy efficiency targets were endorsed, Infrastructure Minister Bojan Kumer noted on Monday that EU member states had shown a high degree of unity in approving the general approach for the two most important Fit for 55 directives.

The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference is set to kick off next week at the World Convention Center in Bonn, Germany, and is designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 which is scheduled for November this year in Egypt.

The Supreme Court is hearing a case its conservative majority could use to hobble Biden administration efforts to combat climate change.

The administration already is dealing with congressional refusal to enact the climate change proposals in President Joe Biden's Build Better Back plan.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the government package to mitigate the impact of high energy prices. As the coalition praised the bill and the wide range of beneficiaries during the debate, most of the opposition MPs also supported the bill, although they argued that the aid would come too late.

Bulgaria is the country in the EU with the largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions last year compared to 2020 (+22.7%), according to the European statistical agency Eurostat.

Luxembourg – Slovenia saw the biggest decline in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in the third quarter of 2021 when compared to the same quarter a year before even as emissions across the bloc increased to slightly below pre-pandemic levels, Eurostat data shows.

Rihanna is backing her belief that climate change is a social-justice issue by pledging $15 million to the movement through her Clara Lionel Foundation.

A new "opengov" type mechanism, where all issues of mitigation of and adaptation to climate change will be put under the "microscope" of all productive actors and citizens of the country will be included in the new climate law.

Ljubljana – The Environment Ministry said that significant progress had been made at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, while further efforts would be needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It quoted Minister Andrej Vizjak expressing satisfaction that the Slovenian EU presidency was able to contribute to the overall result.