The 28 heads of state and government made clear their determination on Thursday 22 March to press on with implementation of the Paris climate agreement beyond what had been expected (see EUROPE 11986).
They called on the European Commission to help them by presenting a proposal for a strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction in accordance with the Paris Agreement, taking into account the national plans “by the first quarter of 2019”, that is, sufficiently ahead of COP25 (11-22 November 2019).
The addition of this date in the summit conclusions sends a clear message, putting pressure on the Commission which has not yet scheduled this strategy that will take it to 2050.
The demand that the climate-energy plans of the various member states be taken into account satisfies countries, like Poland, which do not want the EU to make overly ambitious commitments without knowing what the other international partners will do.
“The European model is also climate requirements. We have called for a new, more ambitious EU strategy on climate”, French President Emmanuel Macron told the press.
For the moment, within the EU, only France, Germany and the Czech Republic have long-term strategies.
NGOs delighted. “This is an important step that will set the wheels in motion for raising the EU’s climate target. The new strategy needs to outline what efforts the EU will pursue to keep temperature rise within the 1.5 degree limit set in the Paris Agreement. This will prove beyond doubt that the current climate target for 2030 is insufficient and trigger its review and increase”, said Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe.
Andrea Kohl, Director of WWF European Policy Office, said it was “encouraging that EU heads of state are finally showing leadership on climate action”, adding: “A plan for reaching net zero carbon emissions in the EU by 2050 is needed – at the latest by early 2019 – to show industry, citizens and other countries the direction of travel, and to speed up the journey”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)