The European Environment and Climate Ministers are convinced of the importance of environmental and climate policies and the European Green Deal initiatives already on the table to contribute to a green and sustainable economic recovery of the EU, ensuring resilience, a just transition for all, respect for the planet’s limits and the well-being of future generations after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their last meeting by videoconference under the Croatian Presidency on Tuesday 23 June gave them the opportunity to express their views on the contribution of the Climate Law, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Circular Economy Action Plan to a future sustainable European economy, as well as on the need to ensure that the recovery provides a stable and forward-looking investment environment generating growth and green jobs.
While there were nuances expressed on the level of ambition of the Climate Law, all Ministers considered that the Green Deal initiatives should guide investments for a resilient Europe, welcomed the ambition of the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the potential of the Circular Economy Action Plan in terms of saving resources and creating a market for secondary raw materials, to the great satisfaction of the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius.
Croatia’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Tomislav Ćorić, outgoing President of the Environment Council, welcomed a “constructive debate that will contribute to the ongoing discussions on the Recovery Plan”. He insisted that Ministers stressed the importance of adequate funding for Green Deal initiatives in the Recovery Plan and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). “The discussion will continue. We will prepare a joint declaration to be adopted during the German Presidency”, he said.
A consensus was reached on: - the links between the Green Deal initiatives and the need to approach them in a coherent way; - the need for adequate resources for the green transition under the Recovery Plan and the MFF; - the importance of the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050 to provide a stable investment environment that supports the Green Deal objectives, such as clean energy, building renovation, innovation and adaptation. Several Ministers stressed the need to apply the ‘do no harm’ principle, while some stressed the need to take account of national or local specificities.
The importance of a ‘Biodiversity for Sustainable Recovery’ strategy and the role of nature conservation and ecosystem restoration in building resilience and preventing future pandemics was recognised.
Ministers stressed the need to fully integrate biodiversity into other sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and forestry and to ensure coherent implementation of EU measures.
They stressed the importance of the new Circular Economy Action Plan, with its emphasis on recycling, sustainable product policy and increased action on plastics. The link with the next sustainable chemicals strategy has been established.
Climate Law. Commission Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, called for the proposed Climate Law (see EUROPE 12493/18) to be adopted as soon as possible, urging Ministers to reach an agreement in the EU Council (‘general approach’) by October at the latest, as investors “need assurances ”.
The urgency of providing predictability to mobilise private capital was also raised by several Member States, including Austria, Latvia, Finland and France, the latter two countries wanting the Climate Law to be adopted by autumn at the latest.
Regarding the EU’s 2030 emissions mitigation target, seven Ministers (Finland, Austria, Luxembourg, Denmark, Latvia, Spain, Sweden) clearly expressed their desire for an increase from -40% to at least -55% compared to 1990. The Netherlands, on the other hand, defended -55%.
Other Ministers, however, recalled that no decision could be taken until the Commission has published its impact assessment on this issue. In addition, some countries, such as Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, stressed the need for impact assessments at the national level as well.
Luxembourg, Denmark, Hungary and Sweden have also argued that the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 should apply not only to the EU as a whole, but also to individual Member States.
Three priorities of the future German Presidency. The German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Svenia Schulze, presented to her colleagues the work programme of the future German Presidency, which will focus on three priorities: climate action, biodiversity and sustainable digitalisation.
“It will be my task to bring together the interests of all EU countries in order to achieve sustainable, socially just and climate-friendly development in Europe”, said the Minister.
She assured her colleagues that she had been listening to them and drawing inspiration from their contributions.
The Climate Law will be crucial. The Minister will do her utmost to reach a consensus on raising the EU’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target to 50-55% with a view to an EU enhanced contribution (NDC) “this year, despite the postponement of COP26” to November 2021. In her view, this would send “a clear message to the international community” that the EU is firmly committed to implementing the Paris Agreement. The basis for the decision will be the Commission’s impact assessment, expected at the end of September. An informal meeting of Environment Ministers is scheduled to take place in Berlin on 30 September-1 October, immediately after the impact assessment.
According to Mrs Schulze, the Circular Economy Action Plan can facilitate the transition to a resource-efficient economy within the limits of the planet, and there is no green recovery without preserving and restoring biodiversity.
The formal meetings of the Environment Council under the German Presidency are scheduled for 23 October and 17 December. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang with Damien Genicot)