Brighter outlook for global climate policy
“Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network, welcomed the increase in ambition by the EU as a “vital and necessary step to help limit the escalating climate crisis” but said it fell short of what was needed – around 65% cuts”.
The Daily Mail
In 2020 we secured our headline objective: the EU adopted a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) ahead of the 2020 UNFCCC deadline. The EU has now committed to substantially increase its ambition to “at least 55% net emission reductions”, injecting momentum into the international climate ambition debate.
Global climate policy had a brighter outlook at the end of 2020 than it did before the pandemic hit. Other countries also updated their NDC, including the UK, while Japan and South Korea announced new net zero 2050 targets. Most importantly, China announced its intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and Joe Biden won the US election promising to take the US back to the Paris Agreement and deepen emission reductions.
However, climate vulnerable countries did not receive sufficient attention. European countries now need to put forward new climate financing commitments, back debt cancellation and support action to provide liquidity to unleash a global green recovery.
