It’s a short piece of legislation that’s nevertheless far-reaching, both for making the European Union a green growth economy and the first climate-neutral continent and for inspiring other countries on the international stage.
This is how the European Commission described its ‘climate law’ proposal, adopted on Wednesday 4 March in the form of a draft legally binding regulation that will set the EU’s commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 in stone.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is proud of this, even if, for NGOs, the upward revision of the EU’s 2030 target (a reduction of its emissions by 50% or even 55%, instead of a reduction of at least 40% compared to 1990), which will be proposed in September, is too little and too late to create momentum at the COP26 in Glasgow (see EUROPE 12438/3) and even if, according to Greta Thunberg, zero net emissions by 2050 is a surrender (see other news).
“The climate law is the legal translation of our political commitment and puts us irreversibly on the path to a more sustainable future. It is at the heart of the European ‘Green Deal’. It offers predictability and transparency to European industry and investors. And it gives direction to our green growth strategy and ensures that the transition will be gradual and fair”, said Ursula von der Leyen.
It will oblige the European Union to take our climate objectives into account in all future policies and legislation, she stressed, saying she is “convinced that it will inspire many of our partners to raise their own ambitions”. However, in order to avoid unfair competition from partners that do not respect the Paris Agreement, the EU will not hesitate to use a border adjustment mechanism, she reiterated.
Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans stressed the importance of the path proposed by the Commission. Revisions every 5 years beginning in 2030, which will be aligned with the 5-year review cycle of the Paris Agreement, and the corrective measures that the institution will propose in the event of deviation from the trajectory, have, in his view, their merits. He told the press that the Commission will be able to make recommendations, ensuring that “there will be other instruments to help Member States stay on track” than punitive measures.
Asked by the press to react to Greta Thunberg’s diatribe, Frans Timmermans, stung to the core, replied: “If she doesn’t agree, that’s up to her. We disagree with her analysis. We can achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We will succeed”. And he added that we are more optimistic than she is about emerging technologies that can achieve the goals, he added.
With regard to the 12 countries that had asked the EU to present the impact assessment in June rather than September in order to bring forward the upward revision of the EU 2030 target, Mr Timmermans noted that three of them have not yet submitted their national energy/climate plans.
Stressing that the trajectory will in particular be monitored by the National Energy/Climate Plans (NECPs), the NGO Carbon Market Watch welcomed the role that this tool will play and urged the Commission to strengthen this process to ensure effective coordination with Member States in order to fully exploit the potential of the NECPs. “This underlines the need for Member States to keep working on their national plans in an inclusive and transparent fashion and to put forward concrete measures to achieve climate targets. It also means that the process itself must be strengthened in order for the plans to deliver on their goals sooner rather than later”, it said. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)