Climate 411

Importing international carbon credits to the EU: How to make it work?

By Pedro Martins Barata / Published: October 17, 2025

By István Bart and Pedro Martins Barata

EU flags waving

Join EDF on Monday, October 20 for the webinar “EU Pathways for International Carbon Credits” on Zoom. 

As the European Union sets a new climate goal for 2040, a key question is whether the EU should use carbon credits from outside Europe to help meet that goal. The European Commission’s July 2025 proposal intends to reopen the door to credits for the first time in over a decade. Still, it remains vague on exactly how importing should be done – that is, who should import, how much and where should the imported credits be used? Now is the time to get the design right. 

EDF’s latest publication, ‘International Credits in the EU: Strategic Choices & Practical Implementation’, explores these questions.  It argues that if done well, importing credits could be a practical way for Europe to keep target compliance costs manageable, protect its climate ambition, and increase its influence in international climate policy. But the details matter – doing it right means we’d need strong rules on quality, clear conditions for if/when credits would be used, and a coordinated EU system to manage purchases and credit use.  

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Advancing affordability through climate ambition: How states can cut costs while cutting pollution

By Peter Della-Rocca, Kate Courtin and Tom Brindle / Published: September 23, 2025

While the federal government rapidly undermines climate progress, new analysis from EDF shows that state leadership is more important than ever. Our analysis finds that if leadership states deliver on their climate commitments, they could make a significant impact on the overall U.S. emissions and collectively cut the gap to the nation’s Paris-aligned 2035 target by a third.  

What’s more, implementing the comprehensive and powerful policy tools state leaders have at their fingertips to meet these commitments would both slash planet-warming pollution and deliver household savings and economic benefits for communities. Now is the time for governors and state legislators to get the job done.

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Washington state’s cap-and-invest program continues to deliver for communities

By Caroline Jones / Published: September 10, 2025

Cap-and-invest continues to be Washington’s best tool for cutting pollution and delivering investments to communities. As linking with the California-Quebec program comes closer to being a reality, the continued success of Washington’s program demonstrates how a larger, linked market will benefit all involved.

The program just completed its third auction of the year. Here are the results and what they mean:

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California lawmakers must act now to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program, as uncertainty reduces funding for investment in communities

By Caroline Jones and Katelyn Roedner Sutter / Published: August 27, 2025

Results were released today for the third auction of the year in the California-Quebec cap-and-trade market. This auction delivered slightly stronger results over the May auction, with all current allowances sold and settlement prices rising above the price floor. This bump in market demand potentially suggests renewed market confidence, though this confidence could be temporary if the Legislature doesn’t act urgently to reauthorize the program.

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Growing body of research reveals high stakes for California leaders to get the details right in Senate Bill 540

By Michael Colvin / Published: August 21, 2025

This blog was supported by Julia Young, an Andlinger fellow from Princeton University. This is the third in a blog series on the opportunities presented by the Pathways Initiative, focused on California.  

California’s legislature is winding down to the last days of its session. A top priority should be finding ways to save families money on their utility bills without compromising the state’s clean electricity goals. A well-designed western electricity market does just that, according to a new analysis supported by EDF.

The difference between lawmakers getting the details right or wrong in Senate Bill 540 is significant.  Getting it wrong jeopardizes the future of a unified western electricity market, costing Californians $350 million dollars a year. This affirms prior research about the need to get the details right since that would enable Californians to save more than a billion dollars each year in energy costs by developing a unified western market.

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How the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy – and why it raises your costs

By Ted Kelly / Published: July 31, 2025

A black and white photograph of solar and wind projects is being torn in half to reveal a coal plant overlaid with an upward trend line to reflect rising costs.

Last updated August 20, 2025.

Electricity prices are rising across the U.S. Demand for electricity is going up for the first time in 20 years. And more extreme weather and heat waves are causing blackouts.

Yet instead of expanding access to low-cost, reliable clean power, the Trump administration is making the problem worse. Since Day One, the administration and its allies in Congress have pushed policies that restrict the supply of affordable, homegrown clean energy – creating a self-inflicted rate hike just as the country needs more power.

Wind and solar offer some of the cheapest – and fastest – ways to provide electric power today. In contrast, the cost to build natural gas plants is at a 10-year high and a shortage of turbines is delaying construction, while coal remains the most expensive and dirtiest way to generate power. To put it simply: Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense.

The attacks on clean energy will not only hike up our electricity bills, but they will also unleash more pollution in our water and air, kill thousands of jobs and make our electric grid weaker.

How is this happening? Here are major ways the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy: Read More »

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