On Tuesday 24 October, the European Commission published its annual progress report on climate action, a document designed to assess the European Union’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This report, published alongside the annual state of the Energy Union report, offers a comprehensive perspective on the achievements and challenges in the fight against climate change.
The report concludes that the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by around 3% over the last year, in line with the trend observed over the last thirty years. Encouragingly, the EU has managed to steadily reduce its emissions since 1990, reaching a cumulative reduction of 32.5% by 2022. However, it is important to note that this performance was partly influenced by the containment measures put in place in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to an unprecedented drop in emissions, followed by a rebound in 2021. Despite this, emissions in 2022 remained below the 2019 level.
Another positive aspect is the increase in the volume of carbon removed from the atmosphere in the EU in 2022 compared to the previous year, although Member States’ projections point to a challenge in meeting the 2030 target of removing 310 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.
The report also highlights the importance of the commitment to renewable energies and energy efficiency. It also stresses the urgent need to put an end to fossil fuel subsidies that do not serve to combat energy poverty or support a fair transition.
However, despite this progress, the document highlights persistent concerns about recent trends in emissions in the transport sector and the slow pace of emission reductions in agriculture. It also points to a decline in carbon sinks.
For its part, the European Council is emphasising the urgency of the response to the climate crisis in its draft conclusions for COP28, to be held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in early December, which will be discussed at the summit on 26 and 27 October. The European Council stressed that increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events were a reminder of the need for immediate global action.
The importance of efforts to adapt to climate change in order to strengthen the EU’s resilience and its ability to respond to crises is also one of the key elements. The European Council reaffirms its commitment to the IPCC’s ambitious targets, calling for global warming to be limited to around 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst consequences.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/997
See the European Council's draft conclusions of October 24: https://aeur.eu/f/99d (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)