• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Climate Groups Accuse EU of ‘Surrender’ on 2030 Emissions Target

March 6, 2020
Reading time: 3 minutes

byrev/pixabay

byrev/pixabay

1
SHARES
 

EU climate groups are accusing legislators of “surrender” after the European Commission approved a draft regulation for the continent’s Green Deal that makes its net-zero target for 2050 legally binding and sets an interim target for 2030, but contains no fixed goals for the crucial decade of action beginning now.

“The elephant in the room will continue to be the 2030 target,” since “what we do from now until 2030 will determine whether we meet the 1.5°C target,” Greenpeace climate policy advisor Sebastian Mang told Reuters earlier this week, ahead of the EC meeting Wednesday. “That is the test—what we do until 2030 is the most important.”

The draft, which must be approved by the European Parliament and the EU’s 27 member states, increases the continent’s 2030 carbon reduction target from 40% to 50 or 55%, and calls for interim milestones every five years from then on, Reuters reports. It leaves out an earlier provision that would have allowed net “removals” of greenhouse gases after the 2050 deadline. And by setting a combined, EU-wide goal, it “raises the possibility that some member states could reduce their emissions to net zero at a later date if other countries decarbonize early.”

While elected officials raised flags about a measure that would shift authority to the EU from member states, climate campaigners condemned a plan that sets no targets for the 2020s.

For the continent’s politicians, a key sticking point is that the new regulation would “impose these new targets through a delegated act, whereby a qualified majority of members of the European Parliament or member states could reject the proposal but would not have the power to propose an alternative,” Reuters explains. That’s a shift from current practice, where EU governments must unanimously agree on a shared climate target through the European Council, and any one country [Poland, we’re looking at you—Ed.] can block consensus.

EU member states may find the shift in process “hard to swallow,” the news agency says. “One thing that will absolutely not fly is the delegated act,” said German legislator Michael Bloss. “It’s dead on arrival.”

But while politicians wrangle about process, climate campaigners are concerned about the plan itself.

“‘Net zero emissions by 2050’ for the EU equals surrender. It means giving up,” #FridaysforFuture founder Greta Thunberg and 33 other youth climate activists said in an open letter Tuesday, the day before the commission vote. “We don’t just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come.”

Reuters says the new law would allow the EC to “name and shame” member states that are falling short of the target and recommend corrective action, beginning in 2023.

Climate groups and a large minority of countries are also dissatisfied with the EC’s plan to complete its review of the 2030 target in September, just two months before high-stakes negotiations open at COP 26 in Glasgow. 

“Twelve EU countries—including France, Italy, and The Netherlands but not the EU’s biggest emitter, Germany—want the Commission to revise the 2030 goal in June,” Reuters says. “They say that would leave enough time for the EU to adopt the new 2030 target and use it to pressure large emitters such as China to raise their climate pledges before the summit.”

Greenpeace’s Mang agreed that “delaying discussions until September would crush the EU’s ability to play a leading role in global climate talks.”



in COP Conferences, Ending Emissions, Energy Politics, UK & Europe

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

openthegovernment.org
United States

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
jasonwoodhead23/flickr
Energy Politics

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France
Nuclear

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
590
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307
David Wilson/wikimedia commons

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds

August 7, 2022
133
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.6k
Green Energy Futures/flickr

Solar Shingle Buying Guide Lays Out Options for Curious Homeowners

August 7, 2022
146

Recent Posts

jasonwoodhead23/flickr

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome

August 7, 2022
68
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 9, 2022
139
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Pacific Region/Wikimedia Commons

Australia Bans New Coal Mine to Protect Great Barrier Reef, Faces Call for Full Moratorium

August 7, 2022
78
The Come Up Show/flickr

Celebrities, Influencers See Backlash for Private Jet Emissions

August 7, 2022
63
alexxxis/Pixabay

Cambridge University to Rename BP Institute Following Student Backlash

August 7, 2022
48
Next Post
Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Biden, Sanders Climate Policies Come Into Focus as Primary Field Narrows

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}