CAN Europe continues to argue that to align with the 1.5°C temperature limit and equity, the EU needs to step up its climate ambition both pre- and post-2030, to achieve domestic net zero emissions by 2040 at the latest. Continuing implementation of climate action so as to achieve (or preferably overachieve) the binding 2030 targets is critical for the EU’s energy and climate security, social and economic resilience, including avoiding the most severe impacts on economies and people across Europe and the rest of the world, and it will also benefit the EU’s pathways towards 2040.
Unfortunately, the lack of political ambition in Europe did not allow to establish adequate post-2030 targets, with the EU agreeing on a binding 90% net emission reduction target for 2040, with the possible inclusion of up to 5% international credits. This makes it even more important that the policy architecture for achieving that goal post-2030 provides predictability, credibility and environmental integrity.
In this context, the post-2030 policy package needs to be designed to achieve at least 90% net domestic emission reductions. Integrating international carbon credits into the climate policy framework is extremely risky and would only delay EU domestic decarbonisation. Any potential review of the EU 2040 climate target should aim at increasing its domestic ambition.
The post-2030 policy framework must have social justice at its core; policies should be carefully designed to account for potential social impacts and diverse realities across Europe, based on effective civil society participation, lessons learned from measures and policies implemented so far, robust gender-disaggregated data collection and socio-economic impact assessments.