Fridays For Future March Worldwide | EU’s Struggle Over Energy Transition – March 2019

Energy Watch Group Newsletter – March 2019

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Over 1.5 million students and climate activists took the streets on March 15 to urge world leaders to take rapid climate action. Meanwhile, Germany and the EU struggling to find a clear and determined pathway towards a timely and full decarbonisation. In the EU, there is talk of higher emission reduction targets and five states even agreed to aim for 100% renewables by 2050, while other member states have still not stepped up their ambitions. Germany fights over a new proposal for a climate protection law, which has been criticized for being insufficient and too ambitious at the same time. Under the current government, increased climate protection efforts seem nearly impossible. Moreover, we want to highlight three pieces of insightful investigative research and journalism covering the dark habits of the fossil industry “behind the scenes”. The focus of our science update is on Europe’s transition towards a 100% renewable energy system. EWG scientific board members Claudia Kemfert and Christian Breyer have published a new study on how to pave the way towards 100% renewables in the European power sector and another study funded by the European Climate Foundation outlines six scenarios for fossil-free energy by 2050. Read about these and more news in our March newsletter.