Orgalime response to EU public consultation: Future climate and energy policy - a Strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions

Published: 9 October 2018

Policies & Issues: Energy & Climate

Climate change is happening and without further global action to mitigate it, temperatures will rise within this century well beyond a 2°Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. This will have major impacts on our economies and societies. In order to prevent this, 178 global partners cooperating under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have ratified the Paris Agreement that calls upon all countries to keep global temperature increase to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Parties to the Paris Agreement are to communicate by 2020 their long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies. 

In March, the European Council invited the Commission to present a proposal for a strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, taking into account the national plans. The European Parliament made a similar request. 

The EU is on track to achieve its 2020 targets and is currently putting in place policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% in 2030 and achieve high level of ambition in energy efficiency and renewable energy (the so called energy and climate framework for 2030). The policies, legislative instruments and support programmes from the European budget will put the EU on a trajectory compatible with the Paris Agreement, but further measures are needed for the time after 2030. 

The EU has currently an objective in the context of necessary reductions by developed countries as a group, to reduce emissions by 80-95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. 

Delivering the Paris Agreement will require a worldwide transition towards a global economy that will not further affect the climate in the second half of the century. 

To read our response to the consultation, please download the document. 

Authors

Linher
Sigrid Linher
Director - Energy, Climate & Environment

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