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Portugal is the country in the European Union (EU) that is closest to achieving climate emission reduction targets for 2030, compared to 2005 levels, according to a report published this Monday by the European Commission.
In the report, the EU executive predicts that, with current measures, Portugal will exceed by 23% the target set by the European Commission for 2030 (a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2005 levels ), reaching a 40% decrease in emissions.
If the additional measures provided for in the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC) are introduced, the Commission expects Portugal to register a reduction of 47%.
The report thus places Portugal in the first place in the EU which, as a whole, and if the Member States do not take further measures, will not be able to achieve in 2030 the 30% reduction in emissions compared to 2005 stipulated by the European Commission , staying at 19%. .
If the national energy and climate plans presented by the Member States to the Commission are met, the EU executive believes that the target will be reached, predicting a 32% decrease in emissions on the continent compared to 2005 levels.
The report also indicates that in 2019, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU as a whole reached the lowest level in the last three decades, with a decrease of 24% compared to 1990 levels.
In a statement, the executive vice president of the European Commission in charge of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said that the report shows that “it is possible to reduce emissions by growing the economy”, but that more efforts are needed.
“Today’s report shows that we must redouble our efforts in all sectors to achieve our common goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” Timmermans stressed.
The Commission expects EU Member States to collectively achieve the 30% emission reduction target by 2005, which will allow some countries to fall short of that target if they are compensated by others.
In this sense, a regulation entitled “Sharing efforts” was drafted that stipulates national goals that allow the bloc, as a whole, to reach the stipulated 30%.
