While emissions produced in the European Union declined 13% from 1990 to 2010, carbon footprint increased by 8%. Growing consumption is a main driver and demand for consumer goods and services in the EU is often met by imports from other parts of the world. If emissions accounting focuses only on emissions related to production, as it’s presently the case, countries can import carbon intensive products without assuming responsibility for their carbon. The urgency of tackling climate change therefore requires complementing policies on production and consumption.
The Carbon-CAP project aimed at stimulating an effective climate policy mix in the European Union (EU) and internationally to address emissions related to consumption in addition to those related to production. A collaborative project funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, Carbon-CAP involved 11 organisations working on climate change, science, policy and economy.
At the end of the project, I helped with the restructuring of the website, the organisation of a webinar to gather feedback from businesses and the development of recommendations for future public-private cooperation.
The website includes an interactive tool allowing to navigate through the results of the research and to identify the policy tools available by sector.