Commission breaks pledge to bring EU targets in line with Paris climate deal

03 March 2016
by greenpeace -- last modified 03 March 2016

The European Commission has broken its pledge to bring EU climate targets in line with the Paris climate deal, said Greenpeace.

In a paper released today, the Commission failed to recommend a review of the EU’s 2030 carbon target in light of the Paris goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The EU’s target to cut carbon emissions by 40 per cent (compared to 1990 levels) is based on an objective to limit temperature rise to 2°C.

The Paris deal requires parties to the agreement to update existing targets “by 2020 […] and every five years thereafter”. Speaking at the end of negotiations in Paris in December 2015, EU climate change commissioner Arias Cañete said: “What has been promised must now be delivered” .

In its disappointing assessment of the Paris agreement, the Commission also postponed any discussion to set new climate targets (beyond 2030) until 2023. While recognizing the need for greater ambition, the Commission wants to wait until well after the publication of the next UN report on climate change in 2018. But the report by the UN panel on climate change will invariably confirm that current EU targets are too low to ward off the worst impacts of climate change, said Greenpeace.

Greenpeace EU climate and energy policy adviser Bram Claeys said: "The Commission must stop pretending Paris didn’t happen. It has a responsibility to step up climate action to reflect the Paris deal in upcoming legislation on renewables and energy efficiency. People won’t trust the EU if it continues to play fast and loose with global warming and delays Europe’s shift to 100 percent renewable energy."

Environment ministers will discuss the Commission paper at a meeting in Brussels on 4 March.

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