CAN Europe calls upon the European Union (EU) to recognise that its commitment to making a fair contribution to the effort to avoid dangerous climate change means that it should reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 95% by 2050 below 1990 levels. Only the upper end of the EU’s 2050 commitment to reduce emissions by 80% to 95% will allow the EU to make a fair and safe contribution to keeping global average temperature rise below 2°C.
The greenhouse gas emission reduction pathway for the EU will therefore need to move well beyond the 40% domestic emission reductions by 2030 proposed by the European Commission and must instead ensure at least 55% reductions by 2030, as compared to 1990. Such a reduction is not only feasible , but also more in line with reality – it envisages an annual reduction of 2%, in line with the average reductions of the last five years.
For the EU to achieve this emission reduction target, binding national targets for energy savings and renewable energy for 2030 need to be agreed, at the level of at least 40% energy savings and at least 45% renewable energy production. These EU-wide targets will have to be divided upon all individual Member States on the basis of fair effortsharing models, with financial support being provided to those countries that have less capacity to invest in low-carbon development.
Finally, a reduction of domestic emissions will not be the only contribution that will be expected from the EU to phase out global greenhouse gas emissions. The EU will need to take on, within the new international climate treaty, an obligation to take a fair share of the effort to reduce global emissions, through domestic emission reductions and provision of financial and other support to poor countries.
Download full CAN Europe Position on post-2020 EU climate and energy targets (Nov 2013)
