Based on the current state of negotiations on the European Union’s ‘Fit for 55 package’, effective reductions in the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions will reach at least 57% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels), which is 2 percentage points higher than the target set out in the European Climate Law (at least 55%), as European Commission Executive Vice-President in charge of the ‘Green Deal’, Frans Timmermans, mentioned on Tuesday 15 November.
Speaking at the 27th UN climate change conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Timmermans said that the EU was ready to update its ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ (NDC) - non-binding national plans outlining the individual actions that each Paris Agreement country plans to take to reduce its emissions - to reflect this “higher ambition”.
He added: “Don’t let them tell you that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is killing the European Green Deal (...) Europe is staying the course. Actually, we’re even accelerating.”
This increase in climate ambition is explained by the recent agreements on some dossiers in the ‘Fit for 55’ package reached between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, in particular the agreement on the revision of the EU Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation (LULUCF). The agreement provides for an increase in the EU’s 2030 target for net greenhouse gas removals by this sector (see EUROPE 13062/15).
For Mark Preston, head of carbon accounting policy for the NGO Bellona Europa, it is therefore necessary to bear in mind that the EU’s 2030 target is to reduce emissions by 52.8%, “despite whatever EU officials say”. “The rest are all removals in the land sinks (carbon) which might reverse.” (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)