On Tuesday 30 September, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) organised a high-level conference bringing together stakeholders and political decision-makers, just a few weeks ahead of COP30, which will be held from 10 to 21 November in Belém (Brazil).
The day was punctuated by round tables and workshops on innovation, climate diplomacy and the monitoring of climate policies, and concluded with an interview conducted by Financial Times journalist Alice Hancock with Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Carbon Neutrality and Clean Growth.
He defended the European trajectory towards 2040 and the target of a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, proposed by the Commission last July (see EUROPE 13672/2).
The future nationally determined contribution (NDC) for 2035 should be derived from this target.
Admitting that the “political discussions (in the Council of the European Union) are more complicated” than had been envisaged, Wopke Hoekstra nevertheless said he was “optimistic”.
“Before Belém, we will have an NDC, which we need, and a 2040 target. And if we need a little more time, is that the end of the world?”, he said, expressing confidence in Europe’s commitment.
He also recalled the unanimous agreement of European Ministers at the Environment Council on 18 September (see EUROPE 13712/2) on the “declaration of intent” setting a reduction range of between 66.25% and 72.5% by 2035.
On the subject of international carbon credits, he defended the “limited and credible” option with a cap “around 3%”, as presented in the European Commission’s proposal, saying that “the climate (...) does not care where emissions are released into the atmosphere”.
On the subject of the climate ambitions of the other major players on the international economic scene, the European Commissioner argued that the EU tended to “overestimate” its power to influence them.
Pointing out that China accounted for 30% of global emissions, he felt that the country’s announcement of an NDC of only 7% to 10% by 2035 was still well short of the hoped-for targets.
He also regretted the US withdrawal from international climate diplomacy - US President Donald Trump having signed an executive order withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement at the start of his term in January - noting, however, that many US companies, cities and States were continuing with the transition.
On the subject of EU policies, Wopke Hoekstra spoke in favour of firm but “pragmatic” objectives.
While he reiterated that the EU is “as close as it gets” to the -55% trajectory for 2030, the European Commissioner said that certain issues - such as carbon sinks (LULUCF), the new emissions trading scheme (‘ETS2’) and the ban on internal combustion engines in 2035 - sometimes needed to be adjusted.
“I would rather us to be street smart. Change it, make it workable, do it in a way that gives us a democratic majority, and then move on”, he said.
On the subject of ETS2, which will come into effect in 2027, Wopke Hoekstra assured that the Commission was studying the concerns of the Member States in order to anticipate any excessive price rises for households. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)