BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders fought hard on Friday to reduce the group’s net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels, avoiding the embarrassing hurdle ahead of a UN climate meeting this week.
After a night-long discussion at their two-day summit in Brussels, the 27 member states, after a reluctant, coal-dependent group, approved a proposal by the EU Executive Commission to tighten the blocs’ central goal of moving towards climate neutrality in the middle of the century. The countries eventually agreed to support the revised target.
“Europe is at the forefront of the fight against climate change,” said Charles Mitchell, president of the European Council. “We plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the weather debate during the 21-hour summit was a constant concern, with a lot to show for it. “It was worth having a night without sleep,” he said.
Stephen Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, praised Friday’s deal.
“This is a very welcome announcement,” said Dujarric, adding that the Secretary-General’s involvement in efforts to take over member countries, groups of member countries.
Five years after the Paris Agreement, the EU wants to be a leader in the fight against global warming. However, the group’s leaders were unable to agree on the new target, which was last met in October, seeking more clarity on how to fund and manage the green transition, mainly through Eastern nations.
But the massive long-term budget and long-awaited deal on coronavirus recovery by EU leaders on Thursday gained momentum.
-Da is ready to come up with a huge મહત્ 1.822 trillion-euro package of huge Swatho programs and investments designed to help member states, territories and regions affected by the green transition in need of economic and social change. EU leaders have agreed that a 30% package – some 550 billion euros – should be used to support the transition.
Still, agreeing on common language was not an easy task. The entire session was punctuated throughout the night by intense discussion and multiple chats in small groups next door.
The second delay in revising the EU’s current 40% emissions reduction target for 2030 would be particularly embarrassing before the Virtual Climate Ambition Summit, the five-year completion of the Paris deal, and leaders worked on the wire to seal the deal.
The UK will co-host the event on Saturday with the United Nations and France.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the “key signal” that would enable EU leaders to “bring in our major international partners, especially the United States and China.”
British Prime Minister Boris Jones announced last week that he wants the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 1990 levels from 1990 levels – a more ambitious target than the EU.
Poland, which last year was not committed to the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target, and other eastern countries, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, rely heavily on coal for their energy needs. They considered it unfair that all member nations should submit to the same ambition regardless of their respective energy mixes.
To get their approval, the member nations agreed that the new goal should be delivered en masse. According to the Belgian Prime Minister’s Office, “the leaders agreed that the cut would be achieved first in regions and countries where there is already ample scope for improvement.”
In addition, the European Commission will take into account specific national conditions when taking action. A progress report will be submitted to the European Council in the spring.
The agreement opened the door for member states to use gas or nuclear energy as they release fossil fuels. EU leaders agreed last year that nuclear energy would be part of a compromise to make its economy a carbon-neutral bloc, and reiterated on Friday that they would respect member states’ decision-making rights on their energy mix and choose the most appropriate technologies to reach it. Will. The goal.
According to a French official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting, Poland also assured that the EU’s emissions trading system – a cap-trade plan for industries to buy carbon credits about 40% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions – would be renewed. . Poland wants to reform its system to redirect more revenue to the EU’s poorer countries.
World leaders agreed five years ago in Paris to keep global warming rise below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and ideally no more than 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) by the end of the century. Under the Paris Agreement, countries will have to submit updated climate targets by the end of this year.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have said the revised EU target is inadequate to properly control climate change.
“To limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the ill effects of climate change, Greenpeace is calling for at least a 65% reduction in EU emissions from polluted areas by 2030,” the NGO said.
Climate Action Network Europe regrets that the revised “net” target includes carbon sinks, such as reconstruction, which means that the emitted areas will need to be less decorative to reach the new target.
“As the Commission identifies itself in its 2030 Climate Targets Plan, if the EU succeeds in implementing the Commission’s biodiversity, carbon removals could represent as much as 5% of emissions. In this case, the target to reduce actual emissions would be as low as 0%, the NGO said.
EU leaders also encouraged the commission to propose a carbon tax on the bloc’s borders for countries that do not strictly regulate CO2 emissions like the EU.
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Edith M. of the United Nations. Ladder contributed to this story.
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Follow the AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
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