EU Says It Will Only Offer Stricter 2030 Carbon Goal After Study
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s executive will propose toughening its existing emission-reduction targets for 2030 only after a thorough analysis on how such a move would impact the economy, according to the bloc’s climate czar, Frans Timmermans.
The European Commission is due to unveil on March 4 a law to make irreversible a goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, putting the region on track to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent. It’s the cornerstone of the bloc’s Green Deal strategy, which also envisages deepening carbon cuts to as much as 55% by 2030. The current goal for this decade is to lower greenhouse gases by at least 40%.
“The issue of the 50%-55% reduction is something we need to address on the basis of sound impact assessment,” Timmermans told the European Parliament’s industry committee in Brussels on Tuesday. “And I will not disregard impact assessment simply out of time constraints.”
The upcoming law on the 2050 target, which will put Europe ahead of other major emitters in the fight with climate change, will need to be approved by national governments and the European Parliament to take effect. The Parliament has urged the commission to include in the law a 2030 goal to cut emissions by 55%.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo, Andrew Langley
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