Europe’s plan to cut its carbon pollution 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 is too little, too late, IPCC Vice-Chair Jim Skea told BBC Monday.
“I don’t think many people have grasped just how huge this task is,” Skea said.
“His argument, in a nutshell, is that European politicians do not understand how much the Continent’s economy must change to reach the longer-term goal of cutting emissions 80 to 95% by 2050,” Spross writes. “Because the easiest technological changes and climate protection measures have largely already been put to use, cutting emissions only 40% by 2030 will leave European countries poorly positioned to close the remaining distance to the 2050 goal” by mid-century.