Our new blog series deals with legal and regulatory issues surrounding the decarbonisation of industry: Stay tuned!
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector remains a key component of European and German climate policy – the goal of achieving climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 and in Germany by 2045 remains unchanged. Industry will have to play its part in reducing CO2 emissions. Shifts in the political balance of power and changing governments are contributing to the mishmash of legal texts in this area becoming ever greater and their application becoming increasingly complex. The speed and number of changes being made raise questions and lead to uncertainty in practice, especially among those who have to implement the new measures. To help you keep track of what is going on, we would like to draw your attention to current legal trends with our new blog series "Decarbonisation of Industry" and take a closer look at key topics and questions raised.
Kick-off: Overview of national and international (legal) developments
The blog series is dynamic and has a broad approach – in terms of both the areas of law and the sectors it addresses. We react quickly to the newest developments.
To kick off the blog series, we have identified some key topics that will be examined in more detail:
- Due to its particular relevance for the decarbonisation of industry, we are starting our blog series with the European Commission's Clean Industrial Deal. This deal for clean industry brings with it a large number of measures from the European Commission, setting the course for the decarbonisation of industry in the European Union. In this blog post, we will also discuss the Clean Industrial State Aid Framework (CISAF) recently adopted by the European Commission. We will also examine other key components of European industrial policy, such as the European Net Zero Industry Act and European measures in the area of the circular economy, from a legal and regulatory perspective with a view to the decarbonisation of industry.
- Emissions trading is a key regulatory instrument in the decarbonisation of industry. For this reason, we will highlight important points in the reforms to European and national emissions trading, in particular the interaction between EU ETS 1 and EU ETS 2. We will inform you about the requirements resulting from the amended German Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Act (TEHG). In connection with European emissions trading, we will also address the topic of "zero rating" in a separate blog post in light of the latest amendment to the European Monitoring Regulation.
- Carbon capture and storage will soon be made possible. The ministerial bill for the amendment to the German Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG) has already been issued and the parliamentary procedure is expected to be initiated in the near future. We will summarise the key points for you and keep you informed of further developments.
- Another key issue in the decarbonisation of industry is negative emissions, without which climate neutrality cannot be achieved. In addition to the key technologies associated with this, we will also discuss the legal and political framework for negative emissions.
- As it is a key technology in the decarbonisation of industry, we will also shed light on important topics in the hydrogen economy, e.g. hydrogen storage and planning law requirements for the hydrogen market ramp-up. Even if most consider the hydrogen market currently to be struggling, the fundamental decarbonisation of industry will only succeed with the use of hydrogen – hydrogen therefore remains a key component. In this context, we will also provide practical support regarding the controversy over the requirements for "green" hydrogen and its certification.
- The decarbonisation of industry will take billions in investment. To ensure that this investment can be managed and economic incentives are provided, a large number of funding programmes, such as IPCEI, Federal Funding for Industry and Climate Change Action (BIK) and Carbon Contracts for Difference, have been launched in recent years. In another blog post, we want to give you an overview of the main existing funding programmes within decarbonisation of industry and the interplay between these various programmes.
We look forward to discussing this with you and hearing your input!
Due to the political dynamics in decarbonisation of industry, the legal and regulatory requirements will always be changing. We would like to use this blog series to have a conversation with you, so please let us know what issues you are currently dealing with and what hurdles you face on a daily basis. Many of the topics we will cover in our new blog series have arisen from such conversations in addition to our advisory practice.
So, with the "Decarbonisation of Industry" blog series having now kicked off, we hope you enjoy reading it and gain some valuable insights from it!
