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Friday, December 11, 2020
Traded all night
The EU significantly tightened the climate target for 2030
The European Union wants to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030 much more than previously planned. This should drop at least 55 percent below the 1990 value. The deal comes after a negotiated night, but critics say the plans don’t go far enough.
The European Union is significantly adjusting its climate target for 2030. Greenhouse gas emissions are expected to fall at least 55 percent below the 1990 level. This was decided at the EU summit in Brussels that morning, as announced by the President of the Council, Charles Michel. So far, the goal has been less than 40 percent. The decision was only made after discussions throughout the night. Several EU countries wanted financial aid commitments for the energy transition. In the end, according to diplomats, Poland blocked the summit resolution for hours because it wanted more guarantees. By 2018, CO2 emissions had only fallen by 22.5 percent compared to 1990, as Eurostat figures show.
The tightening is aimed at helping implement the Paris climate agreement and curb dangerous global warming. The new target should be notified to the United Nations before the end of the year. It is a step on the road to climate neutrality for the EU by 2050, that is, avoiding or storing all greenhouse gases. What is needed is, among other things, a rapid move away from coal, oil and gas, a rapid shift to green electricity and zero-emission vehicles, and the renovation of millions of homes. That means billions in investments. But proponents also see opportunities for new jobs and prosperity in restructuring the economy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had promoted the new target of 55 percent at the summit. French President Emmanuel Macron also campaigned on his behalf. “We have to increase our commitments for 2030,” Macron said. “That is what is expected of Europe.” However, there were reservations in some countries. Some states in the eastern EU are highly dependent on coal and have a long way to go in the energy transition. They insisted on financial support.
Crown funds should also be used
Billions of pots are planned for this: a modernization fund that will feed off revenue from emissions trading; a fund for fair change, but also the 750 billion krona development fund, of which at least 30 percent will be used to implement climate goals. The budget package was recently blocked due to the veto of Hungary and Poland. A settlement in the budget dispute also paved the way for the climate decision at the summit.
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement stipulates that global warming must stop below two degrees, if possible even 1.5 degrees, compared to the pre-industrial period. However, the commitments made so far by some 190 Member States are not enough. Therefore, the contract provides for improvements every five years.
Merkel expressed her satisfaction with the results of the EU summit. In particular, he praised the decision of the 27 EU heads of state and government on climate protection. The goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030 is “very, very important,” Merkel said at the end of the summit. “It was worth not sleeping one night.”
Federal Minister for the Environment Svenja Schulze was delighted that EU states agreed to a more ambitious climate protection target. “This is a very good and important agreement for which we in the federal government have worked a lot in recent months,” said the SPD politician. “Europe is thus embarking on a credible path towards greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050.” The EU is showing that it takes the UN climate agreement seriously and is now back among the international pioneers. Now, EU environment ministers could toughen the position of member states on the EU climate law scheduled for next week.
Criticisms of environmentalists
German environmental associations, on the other hand, criticized the climate policy decisions of the EU summit as inappropriate. “The net target of 55 percent is not enough to tackle the climate crisis,” WWF board member Eberhard Brandes said of the compromise reached by heads of state and government. He called for improvements in the upcoming negotiations with the EU Commission and especially the European Parliament, which wants to achieve a CO2 reduction of 60 percent.
The EU decision doesn’t go far enough for Greenpeace either. “To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees with a high degree of probability, 65 percent less greenhouse gases would be needed in the EU,” said Germany’s chief Martin Kaiser. Furthermore, the EU believes that the new climate target is worthwhile, because for the first time it will also include greenhouse gases that are stored in forests and other “sinks”. Green politician Sven Giegold also criticized the fact that EU states only set the new target “collectively” but did not set any national climate targets.
