[ad_1]
The European Union executive will announce this week an ambitious plan to reduce emissions that will affect all economic sectors, imposing lifestyle changes and stricter standards for industries, according to Bloomberg.
Under a stricter 2030 climate target, carmakers in Europe should accept stricter standards on pollution, with new rules that could send combustion engines to science museums. Energy will become cleaner and cleaner, with a need for € 350 billion a year in investment in EU production and infrastructure. And to help reduce greenhouse gases in agriculture, Europeans will be encouraged to eat less meat.
If passed, the new emissions target, 55% lower than 1990 levels, will force buildings to be more energy efficient, according to a European Commission project seen by Bloomberg News. The cost of pollution to businesses, already approaching record levels, should rise as the EU carbon market strengthens.
The current 2030 target, adopted just six years ago, cuts emissions by 40%.
“Achieving a 55% emission reduction target will be a significant challenge for European investment in the industrial, service, energy and transport sectors,” the European Commission said in the policy document. “However, the return on investment in facing this challenge is no less than the ability of EU companies to be competitive and for our citizens to prosper,” the institution added.
Polluting fuels
The pandemic highlighted the Union’s vulnerability to global supply chains and imports, giving new impetus to efforts to create a more resilient and less dependent on exports. By supporting renewables, the new climate target would reduce the EU’s fuel bill by € 100 billion by 2021-2030 and € 3 trillion by 2050, according to the Commission.
While the economic crisis does not appear to have undermined the EU’s determination to go greener, it has worsened conditions for investment in the technology and infrastructure needed to meet ambitious climate targets. A € 1.8 trillion public funding package, agreed by EU leaders in July to help recover from the coronavirus-induced recession, can only be used on projects that do not undermine environmental goals. A third of that amount goes specifically to environmentally friendly initiatives.
The main changes that the Commission wants to implement to reach the 55% emissions target are:
Low emission transport
-The engines of cars with combustion engines should be gradually replaced by zero-emission vehicles. By June 2021, the EU will propose stricter standards for carbon dioxide emissions from cars and vans, to be met by 2030;
-The Commission’s analysis for 2030 estimates a “reduction of approximately 50% of carbon dioxide emissions, per kilometer, for passenger cars, compared to the 2021 targets”;
-The share of renewable energy in transport should increase to approximately 24% by 2030, compared to the level of 7% in 2015;
-Clean hydrogen will be crucial in heavy transport;
– Airlines and ships should use more low carbon fuels.
Ecological agriculture
– The EU will encourage changes in consumer choices. A sharp reduction in the consumption of animal products could reduce emissions by more than 30 million tons by 2030;
-To boost emissions, the EU could launch a carbon-based agriculture initiative.
Clean energy
-The proportion of renewable energy production should at least double by 2030, to approximately 65%;
-A more important role of renewable hydrogen in some industrial processes;
-The sustainability criteria for biomass will be reinforced. The use of whole trees and food crops for energy, produced in the EU or imported, should be reduced;
-The energy mix will be greener: coal consumption will decrease by more than 70% from 2015, oil by 30% and gas by 25%;
-The proportion of renewable energy could amount to 38.5% of consumption;
-The exemptions for fossil fuels could disappear.
Energy efficient buildings
-The energy economy of the EU must grow to almost 36% of final energy consumption. Most will have to come from buildings;
-EU plans to increase building renovation, to foster the transition to renewable heating solutions, to promote smart homes.
The stricter target should be proposed as an amendment to an EU bill imposing climate neutrality targets by 2050. It needs the approval of Member States and the European Parliament, and most EU groups support a policy more ambitious climate. .
The planned target for 2030 includes emissions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, a design that could ease the burden on some sectors. Still, the scale of environmental policy restrictions would be unprecedented.
In 2019, European Union emissions, including the amount phased out, were somewhere around 25% below 1990 levels. Measures currently forecast by Member States would lead to a cut of just 41% for 2030, according to the Commission.
Accelerating the pace of emissions cuts in the coming decades will not only put Europe on the path to climate neutrality by 2050, but will also make “EU industry and companies global pioneers,” according to the Commission. Under current legislation, Europe will reduce 60% of pollution by 2050.
Also read: The decade that ended was the hottest ever recorded. The heat melted 197 billion tons of ice in one month
The Paris Agreement
The European executive also wants to meet the new target before the end of the year, in the form of an updated contribution to the Paris Agreement. Europe is seeking to encourage other emitters, including China, to step up action on climate, after US President Donald Trump turned his back on the global deal.
Science shows that climate risks are clearly a downside, the EU said in a preliminary document. Last year, Greenland broke its ice record of 15% in 2012, a worrying sign that rising ocean levels could accelerate. Siberia “baked” throughout the year, registering temperatures that would be virtually impossible without greenhouse gas pollution and record fires.
“Postponing climate action or withdrawing planned measures is not an option for the European Union. Long-term economic shocks from inaction would far outweigh the costs of current investment in ambitious climate action,” the European Commission noted.
Editing: Alexandru Costea
