EU’s 2040 climate target to come this week, Commission official says
The European Commission on Wednesday will publish a long-awaited revision of the bloc's climate legislation to set a new emissions-reduction goal for 2040, a senior Commission official told POLITICO.
One year ago, the EU executive recommended the bloc target a 90 percent cut in planet-warming emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels as an intermediate step between its 55 percent reduction goal for 2030 and its net-zero aim for 2050.
But the Commission did not follow up with a formal proposal to enshrine the new target in law, meaning the EU's legislative process involving national governments and the European Parliament has not yet started.
The official, granted anonymity to disclose internal planning details, said the plan was now to publish an amendment to the European Climate Law on Feb. 26 — at the same time as the Commission releases its Clean Industrial Deal, an overarching plan to revitalize industry and help it decarbonize.
That was not a given. Conservative politicians, including within Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's center-right European People's Party, have raised concerns over whether 90 percent is feasible at a time of economic turmoil. Poland, which holds the rotating Council of the EU presidency, had hoped to delay debates on the issue until after its May elections.
The formal 2040 proposal will also spur discussions about the EU's non-binding 2035 target, which the bloc has to submit to the United Nations this year under the terms of the Paris Agreement.
댓글
댓글 쓰기