Monthly Highlights from the Russian Arctic, October 2024
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.
News
Publish date: April 21, 2016
Written by: Bellona
News
BRUSSELS – The year 2016 will be a decisive year in terms of EU Member States’ preparatory process for the implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFI) directive. In fact, by November 2016, Member States will have to have submitted their so-called National Policy Frameworks (NPFs), outlining how they aim to go about the directive’s transposition.
The months leading up to November will therefore be crucial for creating a common understanding, among Member States as well as EU policy makers, of how best to implement the directive and how to overcome technical and non-technical barriers to interoperability. This brief, therefore, provides a number of recommendations for the interpretation of the AFI directive so as to ensure its uniform implementation across EU countries. By drawing on best practices and lessons learnt from the Norwegian EV success story, this brief also shares Bellona’s recommendations for overcoming interoperability issues central to electro-mobility, namely: standard- and fast-charging infrastructure, and the potential synergies with electric infrastructure already in place for public transport; smart charging; electricity roaming; payment solutions; and parking schemes.
The past year has been important in terms of putting the transport sector in the spotlight, by unmasking the commonplace nature of car makers’ fraudulent emission testing practices and by bringing an increasing number of actors in agreement over the need to transition to electric transport[1].
2016 looks promising for building on this momentum, with a number of upcoming opportunities to highlight and accelerate the wider uptake of electric vehicles (EVs).
In the second quarter of 2016, for instance, the European Commission is expected to present a proposal for a post-2020 Effort Sharing Decision (ESD), which will be accompanied by a Communication on the Decarbonisation of Transport. Furthermore, 2016 will be a decisive year in terms of EU Member States’ preparatory process for the implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFI) directive. In fact, by November 2016, Member States will have to have submitted their so-called National Policy Frameworks (NPFs), outlining how they aim to go about the directive’s transposition.
In this brief, Bellona urges EU Member States to consider in their NPFs:
[1] Paris Declaration on Electro-mobility and Climate Change and Call to Action (December 2015), http://newsroom.unfccc.int/lpaa/transport/the-paris-declaration-on-electro-mobility-and-climate-change-and-call-to-action/
Authors: Teodora Serafimova
Publisher: Bellona Europa
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
A visit last week by Vladimir Putin and a Kremlin entourage to Astana, Kazakhstan sought in part to put Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, on good footing with local officials.
Russia is formally withdrawing from a landmark environmental agreement that channeled billions in international funding to secure the Soviet nuclear legacy, leaving undone some of the most radioactively dangerous projects and burning one more bridge of potential cooperation with the West.