The Member of the European Parliament in charge of the new EU climate law, Jytte Guteland from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), has announced today that she will support an increase of the EU’s 2030 climate target to 65%. In line with the latest science available, this target would allow the EU to contribute to the Paris Agreement goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Reacting to the announcement, Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said: “It is great to see that the current COVID-19 context can serve as a wake-up call for climate decisions to be in line with science. To reach the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement, the EU must commit to increasing its 2030 climate target to at least 65% emissions cuts, not less. This is key to protecting people and economies in the EU and worldwide from the multiple threats caused by runaway climate change.”
Trio added: “In its climate target impact assessment, the European Commission now needs to include 65%, beyond the 50-55% scenarios currently on the table.”
Under the Paris Agreement, all countries need to submit new, increased 2030 climate targets by 2020. In the EU, the European Commission must put forward a new target proposal by September to give member states enough time to greenlight it by the international deadline. Today, EU ministers and Angela Merkel at the eleventh Petersberg Climate Dialogue discussed climate ambition in the context of the economic recovery from COVID-19, and took this opportunity to call on the EU to clinch an ambitious deal on the 2030 climate target by the end of this year at the latest.
Last year, the United Nations’ Emissions Gap Report evidenced that at the global level annual emission reductions of 7.6% between now and 2030 will be needed to reach the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement. Applying this reduction pace would require the EU to increase its 2030 target from 40% to at least 65%.
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.
