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– I am incredibly happy to have received support for an emissions reduction by 60 percent, it is a very strong mandate for continued negotiations, says Jytte Guteland, (S), who is the main negotiator in Parliament for the climate law.
Parliament’s decision to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels represents a sharp tightening of the current target of 40% over the same period.
It is also more ambitious than the European Commission’s proposal for a 55 percent reduction by 2030.
– But your proposal is a net proposal, in practice when carbon sinks have been included it will be significantly smaller, how much less is not clear because there are no exact calculations yet, says Jytte Guteland.
Before Tuesday’s vote In Parliament, it was speculated that it would be extremely even and that a few votes could decide. Now the result was 352 votes in favor of a decrease of 60 percent, 326 votes against, while 18 abstained.
Parliament also voted in favor of the EU’s overarching climate goal, to become climate neutral by 2050, not just for the EU as a whole but for all EU countries. Also, they want negative emissions after 2050.
The Climate and Environment Movement believes that the stricter targets for emissions are a step forward but not enough to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
“Parliament’s ambitious proposal for the EU helps to bridge the gap between the EU’s climate policy and the scientific message that at least a 65% reduction in emissions is required,” said Wendel Trio, director of the Network of Climate Action (CAN).
Jytte Guteland would also have liked to have seen even more precise goals.
– A unified body of research is clear that we have to do more and I would say that 60 percent is on the low side, but my hope is to maintain that goal and then through sectoral legislation in the future to overcome it and then the Agreement Paris is within reach.
Under the Paris Agreement, the world’s countries will present stricter climate commitments this year. This would have been done before the annual UN climate summit, which would have been held in Glasgow, but was postponed for a year due to the corona pandemic. But even if the meeting is postponed, the stricter plans have yet to be laid out.
Globally, there are high expectations that the EU and China will step up and take the lead on climate work when the United States under President Trump has abandoned the Paris Agreement. Recently, China surprisingly announced that it will tighten its climate targets and, among other things, become carbon neutral by 2060. Expectations that the EU will have significantly higher ambitions are high.
It will be clarified how far the toughest climate targets of Parliament will go with respect to the new EU climate law. They are the position of the European Parliament on the new EU climate law. Negotiations are expected in the autumn with the governments of the Member States and the Commission, which have less ambitious objectives.
– The fact that Parliament voted to tighten emission reductions by 60% is the best bargaining chip I could get. “I had dreamed that I would be in this place today, but I was very worried that I would not be here, so I am very happy to have this with me from the European Parliament,” says Jytte Guteland.
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