Policy Watch in 2011

Meeting agreed targets for the decarbonization of Europe's energy sector is a tall order, but progress is being made — Sonja van Renssen reports.

Rotting food and other biological waste produce potent greenhouse-gas emissions. Tapping these gases and improving recycling rates would reap multiple benefits, reports Sonja van Renssen.

As scientists raise alarming questions about the true carbon cost of some biofuels, policymakers must decide how best to promote low-emission versions, reports Sonja van Renssen.

With carbon capture and storage technology still in its infancy, there's a danger that enthusiasm for renewables will edge out CCS before it can prove itself, reports Sonja van Renssen.

Helping to build the innovative capacity of developing countries is key to setting them on a path to low-carbon development, writes Sonja van Renssen.

Policymakers are in a tangle over how to account for the higher 'well-to-wheel' emissions of fuel extracted from sand, Sonja van Renssen reports.

With its short-term focus, the financial sector is largely turning its back on the climate challenge, shows a new study. Sonja van Renssen reports.

Sectors such as steel manufacturing are looking to make the same products using less raw material. Adopted more widely, this approach could go a long way to cutting emissions, writes Sonja van Renssen.

The European Union faces the challenge of integrating new measures to achieve energy efficiency with existing climate policies, reports Sonja van Renssen.

Adaptation is still mitigation's poor cousin, in political and economic terms. However, efforts to better define adaptation — and the areas that would benefit most from climate aid — may help in achieving parity, finds Sonja van Renssen.