Ironically, given the IPPC report and COP27 at the end of the year, the major beneficiary of the Russian gas supply crunch appears to be coal: the IEA forecasts a 7% rise in global coal consumption to reach the all-time record set in 2013, with electricity demand for coal likely to increase by as much as 16%.

The EU's Response

The EU responded with the announcement of a plan for a 15% reduction in gas use across the bloc.  Part of the objective of the plan, which will be in force until March 2023, is to reduce gas use now in order to release gas to build up storage in preparation for the winter.初始性排减量由成员国自愿实施,但成员国必须每两个月向欧盟报告节能计划进度,然而,如果俄罗斯命令完全关闭欧盟天然气供应量,目标将成为强制目标 。

关键产品制造商和关闭电源后难以重开电厂免责然而,一些欧盟成员国已经颁布了国内能效计划。计划包括一系列措施:关闭历史遗迹照明关灯广告确定最大和最小空调单元水平介于19-27C禁止手机加热强制商店关上门关闭城喷泉或强制公共游泳池只提供冷水淋浴计划强制所有商业设施 关闭1900计划是否生存德拉吉死后,还有待观察 。

除能效驱动外,欧盟还启动全球能源外交推送以寻找新燃气源承认它无法替换一个供应商所有缺失俄国天然气,它正在推行一种“分片购买策略 ” 。 这种方法发现它在一些新不熟悉门上搜索天然气-尼日利亚、阿尔及利亚和哈萨克斯坦-并返回老供应商-沙特阿拉伯、卡塔尔和伊拉克。

The European Parliament and Council are in the last stages of the legislative procedure to adopt a Regulation on Batteries and Waste Batteries ("Sustainable Batteries Regulation"), which the European Commission proposed in December 2020.  Among other many requirements, the proposed Sustainable Batteries Regulation will require manufacturers to ensure that the portable batteries contained in their electronic devices are removable and replaceable.  These requirements will apply to a large variety of electronic devices, including household appliances, IT, telecommunications equipment, and medical devices.  They are part of a broader sustainable products package that includes other legislative proposals, such as the Commission proposal for a Regulation on Ecodesign Requirements for Sustainable Products and an upcoming legislative initiative on the right to repair, and will require manufacturers to redesign the electronic devices that they market in the European Union and European Economic Area ("EU/EEA").

The European Parliament and Council adopted their position at first reading and common approach, respectively, in March 2022, and they are now in so-called "Trilogue" negotiations to try to reach an agreement on the final wording of the Regulation.  They expect to hold their third Trilogue meeting in early October and to adopt the Regulation by the end of the year.  The removability and replaceability requirements on portable batteries are likely to apply as of early 2025.

Below we outline the Parliament's and Council's main positions on the replaceability and removability requirements as well as those aspects for which they have already reached a provisional agreement. 

The Removability and Reparability Requirements

The draft used in preparation of the second Trilogue meeting of June 30 ("Second Trilogue Draft") indicates that the EU institutions agree that as "[f]rom 24 months after the entry into force of the [Sustainable Batteries Regulation] any natural or legal person that places on the market products with portable batteries […] incorporated, shall ensure that those portable batteries […] are designed in such a manner to be readily and safely removable and replaceable by the end-user or by independent operators during the lifetime of the appliance […], if the batteries have a shorter lifetime than the appliance […], or at the latest at the end of the lifetime of the appliance." 

The current Batteries and Waste Batteries Directive 2006/66 already requires manufacturers to "design appliances in such a way that waste batteries [..] can be readily removed."  The WEEE Directive 2012/19 also requires that batteries be removed from any "separately collected [waste electrical and electronic equipment]."  The Sustainable Batteries Regulation's requirements on removability and replaceability are intended to ensure the enforcement of the obligation to remove the batteries to allow their recycling and to prolong the expected lifetime of the appliances they are part of.  While the Second Trilogue Draft's wording is unclear, the removability and replaceability requirements are likely to be interpreted as requiring that portable batteries be removable and replaceable if their lifetime is shorter than that of the appliances in which they are contained, and that they be removable at the end of the lifetime of the appliances.  This could suggest that portable batteries do not need to be replaceable if their lifetime is the same or longer than that of the appliances in which they are contained.

The Council is proposing that a battery should be considered as "readily removable" "where it can be removed from an appliance […] without the use of specialized tools, thermal energy, or solvents to dissemble."  A battery would be replaceable "where, after its removal from an appliance […] it can be substituted by a similar ["compatible" according to the Parliament] battery without affecting the functioning or the performance or safety of that appliance."

The European Parliament is also proposing prohibiting manufacturers from using software "to affect the replacement of a portable battery […] or of their key components with another compatible battery or key component."     

The Parliament's proposal to ensure that portable batteries can be substituted by "compatible," rather than "similar," portable batteries is intended to ensure that batteries can be replaced by batteries that are not of the same brand or from the same manufacturer.The Parliament also proposes to require that manufacturers keep available portable batteries as spare parts of the appliances they power for a minimum of ten years after placing on the market the last unit of the same model "with a reasonable and non-discriminatory price for independent operators and end-users."

To What Batteries and Appliances Would the Requirements on Removability and Replaceability Apply?

The Second Trilogue Draft defines a portable battery as any battery that: (i) is sealed, (ii) weighs below or equal to five kilograms, (iii) is not designed specifically for industrial uses, and (iv) is neither an electric vehicle battery, nor a light means of transport battery, nor a starter, lighting or ignition power battery of a motor vehicle.万博体育app手机登录A battery is "any ready for use, source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy, having internal or external storage, and consisting of one or more non-rechargeable or rechargeable battery cells, modules or packs of them, including a battery that has been subject to preparing for re-use, preparing for repurpose or repurposing, or remanufacturing." It also defines an "appliance" as any "electrical and electronic equipment" that is fully or partly powered by a battery or is capable of being so."

In practice, the removability and replaceability requirements will apply to portable batteries contained in a wide variety of electrical devices, including household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, consumer and lighting equipment, electronic tools, toys and leisure equipment, medical devices, monitoring equipment, and automatic dispensers.  However, the reference of the definition of appliance to the WEEE Directive 2012/19 suggests that the removability and replaceability requirements may not apply to all products containing batteries.  For example, it is unclear whether the requirements would apply to teddy bears with an electronic function.

The Second Trilogue Draft imposes identical requirements on batteries for light means of transport (e.g., electrical bicycles), and the European Parliament is also proposing to impose similar requirements on automotive batteries, electric vehicle batteries and industrial batteries.

Who Should Be Able to Remove and Replace the Portable Batteries?

The Second Trilogue Draft indicates that the Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement in that the manufacturer of the appliances may choose between ensuring that the portable batteries be removable and replaceable by an end-user or by an independent operator.  However, as with the EU rules on the type approval of vehicles (see e.g., Regulation 2018/858), the EU institutions intend to ensure that manufacturers may not limit the possibility to remove and replace the batteries to only their dealers.  The Draft defines an independent operator as a "person who is independent from the manufacturer and the producer and is directly or indirectly involved in the repair, maintenance or repurposing of batteries, and include waste management operators, repairers, manufacturers or distributors of repair equipment, tools or spare parts, as well as publishers of technical information, operators offering inspection and testing services […]." 

The Parliament would also require manufacturers of appliances to provide their customers at the time of purchase of the appliances and permanently online with "clear and detailed instructions for removal and replacement" of the portable batteries. 

The Council also proposes that in the case of appliances "designed to operate normally in a wet environment" the portable batteries shall be removable and replaceable "only by qualified independent operators."  The concept of "qualified" independent operator would have to be defined in the guidance on the removability and replaceability requirements that the Commission is mandated to adopt and/or by Member State legislation.

Possible Exemptions

The European Parliament and Council are likely to agree that the removability and replaceability requirements should not apply to portable batteries where the "continuity of power supply is necessary and a permanent connection between the [appliance] and the [respective] portable battery is required for safety, medical or data integrity reasons."  The Parliament is also proposing to grant an exemption where "the functioning of the battery is only possible when the battery is integrated into the structure of the appliance and it can be proved by the manufacturer that there is no alternative available on the market."  The Second Trilogue Document suggests that the Parliament and Council have provisionally agreed that the removability and replaceability requirements should only apply to battery packs as a whole and not to individual cells or other parts included in the battery pack.

As the world struggles to adjust to the harsh new reality of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the most recent instalment of the Sixth IPCC Report slipped out almost unnoticed.  And that is worrying, since the assessment in this section of the Report is even starker than previous assessments – noting in particular that in order to avoid global temperatures increasing by greater than 1.5 degrees C above preindustrial levels, the world needs to halve its emissions this decade: a reduction that the world does not currently appear to be remotely on course to do.

However, whilst the IPCC Report and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are not linked, Russian aggression in Ukraine may serve as a catalyst to speed up the European energy transition and accelerate its retreat from dependency on Russian gas and exposure to volatile international oil markets, which could in turn deliver a more rapid reduction in European emissions.  In the process, perhaps setting the world on a path to achieving an outcome that currently seems unattainable.

What is the IPCC Report?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a panel of the world's leading climate scientists.  The Panel publishes regular updates of global knowledge on the climate crisis.更新设计帮助政府决策。更新内容非常全面,每次需要5至7年完成The current Report is the Panel's Sixth Report since its establishment in 1988, and commentators have noted it may be the last to be published while there is still some chance of avoiding the worst impacts from climate change.

This Sixth Report is being released in four parts between August 2021 to October 2022.  The first part examined the physical basis of climate science (how the atmosphere is changing – and will change – and whether human influence is responsible).  The second part, which was released on 28 February, assesses the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather, droughts, floods and temperature rises, and how best to adapt to these changes[i].

What does the Second Part Say?

The conclusions of the most recent instalment of the Sixth Report make for sobering reading:

• The risks associated with lower levels of warming are greater than the previous 2014 IPCC adaptation assessment had concluded;
• The window to adapt to climate change is "brief and rapidly closing";
• The impacts on human systems, natural systems, and ecosystems are more widespread and accelerating;
• Ecosystems are reaching the limits of their ability to adapt to the changing climate, and the effectiveness of adaptation will decrease with increasing warming;
• Some losses are already irreversible;
• Sea-level rise is already inevitable, posing an existential threat for some small islands and increased vulnerability for infrastructure, including ports and energy systems;
• Up to 1bn people could be at risk from coastal flooding by 2060;
• Half the world's population live in areas that are "highly vulnerable" to climate change;
• Even at 1.5 degrees or less, 8% of current farmland will become unproductive.

Given that the world has already warmed by 1.1 degrees since the pre-industrial period and that there is a lag in the world's climate response to emissions, it is likely that the world will warm by 1.5 degrees within 20 years, even if deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts are achieved.COP26多次表示,本十年是决定性的十年:2030年前排放量必须减半,世界才有机会保持在1.5度以下变暖状态。

/p>若不将全球变暖限制在1.5度以下,将触发冰帽和冰川融化的灾难性链反作用增加野火和树死accelerating peatland dry-out and permafrost thaw – all of which would release additional carbon emissions further accelerating global warming.

The Report identifies five areas as priorities for future climate adaptation.  One of those areas is the reform of energy systems, where the Report makes a number of recommendations:

• Energy generation diversification.
• Improved demand-side management through better storage, and energy efficiency.
• Climate responsive energy markets, smart-grids, robust transmission systems, and improved supply-deficits response capacity.

So How is the Russia-Ukraine Crisis Relevant?

A Commission Communication ("Joint European Action on Affordable, Secure and Sustainable Energy") was due for release on 2 March!however, the Commission has announced a delay to the publication in order to revise it in light of the Ukraine crisis.  A leaked draft of the original Communication set out a number of recommendations that were very closely aligned to the IPCC Report recommendations set out above – though the Communication's conclusions were motivated as much by geopolitical and economic, as climate change factors.

It is likely that Putin's aggression in Ukraine will shift the focus of the redrafted Communication to an accelerated switch to renewables, which would also help deliver against the IPCC Report's demands.  In his twitter feed, Commission Vice President Timmermans noted on 28 February: "It's time we tackle our own vulnerabilities.以闪电速度跳入可再生能源我们自己清洁廉价无穷能量越快移动,越快减少对他人依赖度,我们站在一起越强。

Whilst远非唯一文件显示欧盟通向2050NetZero目标,尽管即将修改,看通信初始草稿仍然有启发作用,它清楚地表明欧盟从依赖俄罗斯燃气向可再生能源过渡的方向。

Even before the Ukraine crisis, the draft Communication was crystal clear on the dangers of European "dependence on a single supplier of fossil gas" demanding "diversification of gas supply and using the full potential of green and low carbon energy sources" including increasing the use of LNG to "reduce our dependence on imported Russian gas and strengthen security of supply."

The draft Communication argued that "[s]ustained high energy prices are impacting the entire economy….廉价燃气价格.使可再生清洁能源投资更有利可图,这意味着“快速清洁能源过渡需求从来就没有更强和清晰”,提高燃气价格缩短了“从易变化石燃料向更廉价可再生能源技术过渡的回溯时间.减少对进口依赖并推倒物价”。

通信草案建议多项需求方响应,包括提高能效清除监管屏障加速天然气存储投资The motivation may be different – "to make Europe less vulnerable to fluctuations on the fossil fuel markets" – but the sense of urgency is the same "as soon as possible."

Once again, mirroring the IPCC's conclusions, the draft Communication proposed an "ambitious combination of funding and regulatory measures [to] accelerate the green transition."  Although it does not feature in the original Communication, it would not be a surprise to see the amended version place an expanded role for nuclear power as a green alternative back on the agenda again – not least given the recent announcement by the German Government that they would consider postponing the decommissioning of German nuclear reactors as part of the national response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Conclusion

Although perhaps reached for different reasons, the conclusions of the IPCC Report and the Commission are identical: an accelerated shift away from dependence on hydrocarbons for energy and an increased focus on the rapid deployment of renewable energy is essential.  For the EU, the shift is necessary not only for climate change reasons, but also for its long-term political, economic and social well-being.

The EU was already heading down the renewables path: the Russian invasion of Ukraine will accelerate that process in the medium- to long-term and will force the EU to seek other sources of natural gas in the short-term.  The process of seeking new sources of gas will have an impact on global gas prices, which will in turn further accelerate the global shift to an increasing reliance on renewable energy.

No one should be under any illusion that the energy transition will be rapid, pain-free, or easy, but the EU's experience with dependence on Russian gas demonstrates clearly one of the real geopolitical vulnerabilities of continuing to rely on the existing model.

Covington's mixed teams of regulatory and public policy experts are uniquely placed to advise clients on how to navigate the turbulent geopolitics of international relations and their impact on the energy transition.

We would be happy to discuss with you how these complicated inter-relationships may affect your company and your business.

[i] The report of the third working group, which will examine how to cut emissions, will be released at the end of the second quarter.第四即最后一次工作组报告综合其他三个工作组报告的结论,将于10月在COP27前发布-定于2022年11月举行。

Taxonomy Re-Cap

The Taxonomy Regulation establishes the EU's binary system to distinguish between economic activities that are "environmentally sustainable" and those that are not.

Together with other laws of the EU Sustainable Finance Package such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ("CSRD") and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ("SFDR"), the Taxonomy Regulation is designed to channel capital investments to sustainable economic activities.To this end, the Taxonomy Regulation provides criteria to allow companies and financial market participants to label specific economic activities and related investments as "environmentally sustainable," and EU rules require a growing number of companies and investors to report on the degree to which their economic activities and investments comply with the Taxonomy Regulation.

To be environmentally sustainable for purposes of the Taxonomy Regulation, an economic activity must fulfill the following four cumulative requirements:

1. Substantially contribute to one of six environmental objectives (e.g., climate change mitigation, transition to a circular economy);
2. Not significantly harm any of the other environmental objectives (e.g., by harming pollution prevention and control due to "a significant increase in the emissions of pollutants" or by harming protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems due to its significant detrimental effects on the good condition and resilience of ecosystems).
3. Be carried out in compliance with minimum safeguards, which are essentially the core human rights and labor obligations of the OECD, UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights, the International Labor Organization, and those enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights!和
4. 兼容技术筛选标准>

技术筛选标准至关重要They set out the specific conditions that a particular economic activity (e.g., electricity generation from natural gas or construction of a nuclear power plant) must meet in order to be deemed environmentally sustainable for purposes of the Taxonomy Regulation.

The European Commission Is the Key Taxonomy Gatekeeper

Under the Taxonomy Regulation, the EU Member States and the European Parliament have delegated the authority to adopt the technical screening criteria to the European Commission, but Member States and Parliament retain the right to scrutinize and object to them.

The Commission has already successfully adopted Commission Delegated Regulation 2021/2139 (the so-called "Climate Delegated Act"), which sets out the technical screening criteria for dozens of economic activities that are deemed to substantially contribute to climate change mitigation or adaptation (ranging from "anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge" to "transport by passenger cars").

On February 2, the Commission complemented this Climate Delegated Act with the CCDA, which will still be subject to scrutiny by Member States and the European Parliament.The CCDA specifies the screening criteria for specific nuclear and gas activities, and also amends the specific disclosure rules established in Commission Delegated Regulation 2021/2178 to allow investors and other stakeholders to distinguish Taxonomy compliant gas and nuclear activities from other Taxonomy compliant activities such as the construction of off-shore wind parks (see Annex III to CCDA).

Gas Activities: The Commission's Sustainability Criteria

The CCDA includes three natural gas activities that can be Taxonomy compliant subject to strict conditions:

• Construction or operation of electricity generation facilities that produce electricity using fossil gaseous fuels (i.e., natural gas);
• Construction, refurbishment, and operation of combined heat/cool and power generation facilities using fossil gaseous fuels!
构建、翻新和运行热生成设施,使用与高效区热冷相连接的化石气燃料产生热/cool。

三大活动技术筛选标准大致相似Taking the example of the first activity, electricity generation from natural gas, the key conditions are as follows:

• The life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation must not exceed 100g CO2e/kWh (the emissions are to be calculated based on the EU's 2013 life-cycle method or applicable ISO standards).
• The life-cycle emissions must be verified by an independent third party.
• For facilities relying on a form of abatement, such as carbon capture or use of low-carbon gases, the abatement activity must itself comply with the applicable technical screening criteria in the Climate Delegated Act.

We note that the life-cycle emission target of 100g CO2e/kWh in practice means that operators seeking to comply with it must rely heavily on abatement activities, such as carbon capture technologies or the blending of fuels.依据>Central研究 绿氢与天然气混合还有可能实现这些生命周期排放目标。

The laxer emission target is:

• Direct greenhouse gas emissions are lower than 270g CO2e/kWh of the output energy, or annual direct emissions do not exceed an average of 550kg CO2e/kW of the facility's capacity over 20 years.

The additional cumulative requirements are:

• The gas power plant replaces an existing high emitting electricity generation activity that uses solid or liquid fossil fuels;
• The power to be replaced cannot be generated from renewable energy sources, based on a comparative assessment with the most cost-effective and technically feasible renewable alternative for the same capacity;
• The newly installed production capacity does not exceed the capacity of the replaced facility by more than 15%;
• The gas power plant is designed and constructed to use renewable and/or low-carbon gaseous fuels (e.g., "green" or "blue" hydrogen) and the switch to the full use of such fuels must take place by December 31, 2035.责任公司管理者必须批准并承诺对开关实施可核查计划 。
• 替换现有电源活动导致在新建燃气厂使用寿命期间温室气体排放减少至少55%
• /li/p>如果天然气电厂位于使用煤发电的欧盟成员国内,该成员国公开承诺淘汰煤发电。