News of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election is a welcome signal of continuity for EU climate policy. In just two years, she oversaw the development of the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy and the passage of the Net-Zero Industry Act, marking significant advancements for the sector. If the Green Deal agenda was Europe’s ‘man on the moon moment’, then these initiatives each represented one small step towards climate neutrality.

While necessary, the commitments contained in these two initiatives alone are far from sufficient to meet the EU’s climate ambitions. Over the next five years, crucial work must be done if we are to make the giant leap forward on carbon capture that our climate neutrality goals depend on.