LAUSR

Focus on upstream production, not downstream use Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are a key decarbonization technology for transport and electricity sectors (1). Governments, including the European Commission (EC), stress LIBs’ relevance from a climate and “green” industrial policy standpoint (2). However, producing LIBs causes substantive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—for example, from fossil fuel use in mining raw materials or energy consumption during battery production (3, 4). Hence, the EC aims to address this issue through a new regulation proposed in late 2020 (5, 6). Article 7 of the proposal mandates a carbon footprint (CF) declaration from mid-2024 and sets upper CF limits for European markets, which will be applicable from 2027 for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and stationary batteries with more than 2 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of storage capacity. Here, we aim to inform the debate on the European CF regulation by discussing regulatory design options, along with their advantages and disadvantages, including implementation barriers and potential adverse incentives.