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 approved a proposal by the EU Executive Commission to tighten the bloc’s central goal of moving towards climate neutrality in the middle of the century, after a reluctant, coal-dependent group. 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.”
Five years after the Paris Agreement, the EU wants to be a leader in the fight against global warming. Nonetheless, group leaders and heads of government 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.
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Still, agreeing on common language was not an easy task. The whole session was punctuated throughout the night by intense discussion and multiple chats in small groups on the side.
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. British Prime Minister Boris Jones announced last week that he wanted the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030 – a more ambitious goal 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 found it unfair that all member states should submit for the same ambition regardless of their respective energy mix combinations.
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 cuts will 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 power as they release fossil fuels. EU leaders agreed last year that nuclear energy would be part of the bloc’s commitment to carbon-neutralize its economy, and reiterated on Friday that they would respect member states’ right to decide on their energy mix and choose the most appropriate opportunity 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 of about 40% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions – would be renewed. Poland wants to reform the 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 targets are insufficient to properly control climate change.
To limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the adverse effects of climate change, Greenpeace is calling for a reduction in EU emissions from polluted areas by at least 65% 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 removal 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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