The European Commission has unveiled its new EU industrial strategy. Given the significant climate impacts coming from industry, the Commission missed the chance to land the Green Deal in the strategy and ensure deep reductions in industrial emissions, a key step to achieve climate neutrality.
Industry is both a major contributor to climate change as well as increasingly hit by climate costs and uncertainties itself. It currently represents 14% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, industrial emission levels have been stagnating, not declining, proving the failure of the current regulatory framework.
The European Green Deal is the European Commission’s new project to achieve the EU commitment to become climate neutral by 2050, and the new EU Industrial Strategy is meant to mobilise industry to transform it to be able to contribute to meeting this objective.
Unfortunately the Commission’s industrial strategy fails to provide such mobilisation.
Doreen Fedrigo, EU Climate and Industry Policy Coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said: “The Commission’s intention to decarbonise industry and its value chains is of utmost importance, but the present strategy falls short of the mark. It does not even set clear sectoral targets or indicate paths towards climate neutrality. The Commission is failing to match its words on climate to the level of determination required to achieve climate neutrality in the industry sector.”
“The strategy underplays the huge potential for the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries, and it lacks a robust governance framework and measures to ensure progress is made in turning polluting industries into climate-friendly ones.”
Other initiatives such as the ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’ or the ‘Small and Medium Enterprises Strategy’ are merely mentioned, but with no indication of how they will drive down industrial emissions to net zero by 2050.
ENDS
Contact:
Nicolas Derobert, Head of communications, nicolas@caneurope.org, +32 483 62 18 88
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe is Europe’s leading NGO coalition fighting dangerous climate change. With over 160 member organisations from 35 European countries, representing over 1.700 NGOs and more than 47 million citizens, CAN Europe promotes sustainable climate, energy and development policies throughout Europe.
