EU scales down 2030 climate and energy goals
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The European Union scaled back its long-term climate and energy ambitions on Wednesday, proposing less stringent targets than in the past, because of tougher economic conditions and the need to curb rising energy costs.
The European Commission – the bloc’s executive – said EU governments should face a single binding target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 to a volume that is 40 percent lower than 1990 levels.
That represents a doubling of the goal in the existing 2020 target, but it is still below what some scientists and environmentalists say is needed to prevent the worst effects of climate change and is less than some policymakers wanted.
“What we are presenting today is both ambitious and affordable,” Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference in Brussels as the goals were unveiled.
The Commission’ 2030 strategy statement reflects a new sense of pragmatism at a time when European growth is slow and the EU’s biggest trading partners, including the United States, Japan and Canada, have scaled back their climate commitments.
Beyond the headline goal, the Commission also scaled back its demands on member states when it comes to adopting renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power.
Current national targets require countries to ensure renewables account for 20 percent of total EU energy use by 2020. But after that date, binding national targets will be scrapped.
Instead, the Commission is recommending an EU-wide goal of “at least 27 percent” renewables, a higher level but without the hard and fast national targets currently in force. Read the entire article here... and get supporting information here.
