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The European Parliament has toughened the EU’s climate target for 2030. The target should be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2030, MPs decided. Originally, the EU Commission had estimated a reduction of at least 55 percent. However, members of the European Parliament were able to vote on the amendments. The 60 percent target only received a small majority.
Currently, the EU wants to reduce its greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. The EU Commission recently raised the climate target and wanted, among other things, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU at “at least 55 percent” by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Commission Director Ursula von der Leyen announced the tightening in mid-September in her State of the EU speech. The goal is to help comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. Now the EU Parliament wants to toughen it up even more.
In the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, countries agreed to limit the global average temperature in this century to below two degrees above the pre-industrial level and to fight for a limit of 1.5 degrees.
According to a special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a 1.5 degree rise in temperature would have significantly less serious consequences. A two-degree rise would likely affect ten million more people from rising sea levels, the likelihood of extreme weather events would increase, and significantly more adaptations to climate change would be necessary.
Experts doubt that this goal can still be achieved. According to the World Time Organization (WMO), the global average temperature could rise 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels in one of the next few years.
One too lax, the other too strict
Green European politician Michael Bloss called the result a milestone for European climate policy. “For the first time, a European institution has exceeded the climate target of 60 percent.” Parliament has shown courage, Bloss said.
Other MPs, however, see the 60 percent target as too high. CDU MEP Markus Pieper said that the forthcoming finalization of the legislation in the coming weeks will show “the folly of this requirement.” “The 60 percent by 2030 will go well beyond the Paris climate targets.”
The Vice-President in charge of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, had promoted the proposal of the EU Commission before the vote in the European Parliament. The goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2030 is already ambitious, according to Timmermans.
Climate activists, on the other hand, don’t go far enough with the plans, accusing the EU Commission of fraudulent figures. When calculating emissions, important aspects such as international flights would be overlooked.
The European Parliament will vote on other amendments on Wednesday. The full text should be put to a vote starting Wednesday night. However, the results are not expected until Thursday morning, as MPs are currently voting by email. So the parliament and the EU states have yet to find a common line.
