Environment Committee of the European Parliament adopts compromise on 2040 target / Essentially Council text with two changes
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Peter Liese: The Council text contains significant concessions on both sides, but we must now work together in the middle / Improvements needed on the quality of international certificates / Under no circumstances should the Climate Law strengthen our strategic competitors such as China
The Environment Committee of the European Parliament has adopted by a large majority (55 to 32) an amendment to the Climate Law concerning the 2040 target. The Members of the European Parliament essentially endorsed the proposal agreed by the Environment Ministers last Wednesday, with two notable modifications. MEPs insist that certificates from third countries recognised for European climate protection must be of high quality and that related financial flows must not contradict the strategic interests of the EU.
EU Environment Ministers Agree on Climate Target for 2040
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Peter Liese: Important that there’s an agreement finally / Improvements of the details still needed by Parliament
“I am glad that the environment ministers have finally agreed on the climate target for 2040. I consider the agreement on the 2040 target to be acceptable,” said Dr. Peter Liese, climate policy spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats). “The 90% target is incredibly ambitious, and I can well understand why flexibility elements, such as the recognition of climate protection efforts abroad, have been included. I also accept that there is a review clause in case nature — for example, through CO₂ sequestration in forests — does not help us as much with climate protection as the European Commission expects. (In fact, the target is an 82% reduction within the European Union. Some countries even have the possibility to achieve further reductions through efforts abroad.) This is still very ambitious compared to many other countries and regions of the world, considering, for example, that Japan has a reduction target of 60% for 2035,” Liese said, assessing the core of the agreement.
Read more: EU Environment Ministers Agree on Climate Target for 2040
Begin of the Climate Conference in Belem
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Europe must stand together on climate protection and not hide its light / European Parliament likely to adopt compromise on climate targets with improvements on Thursday
“We must now stand together in Europe and not hide our light,” said Dr. Peter Liese, climate policy spokesman for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), at the start of the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem. “Admittedly, it took too long for the EU to agree on future climate targets. The compromise reached by the environment ministers is not perfect, but we will achieve nothing for global climate protection if we now nitpick at the compromise and hide our light. The European Union's targets and concrete policies are still very ambitious,” Liese emphasized. As an example, he drew a comparison with Japan's 2035 target: “Japan has met the UN deadline but has set a very weak target of 60% by 2035. Even though I would have liked Europe to agree on 72.5%, as the European Parliament wanted, the range of 66 to 72% is still ambitious. In contrast, China's reduction target of 7-10% is very weak. This is particularly true when you consider that China already has higher per capita emissions than the EU.”
European Council on Climate Protection
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Peter Liese: The Council's conclusions are encouragingly positive / Transformation continues / But we need pragmatism, technology neutrality and greater consideration for competitiveness, and above all more opportunities for citizens
“In my view, the conclusions of the European Council on future climate policy and competitiveness are encouragingly positive. For a long time, it looked as if the European Council would be unable to reach any agreement on this important issue. The Member States were reportedly hopelessly divided. Given this expectation, the declaration is surprisingly clear. I think it strikes exactly the right balance between ambition and pragmatism,” said Peter Liese, climate and environment policy spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), on the occasion of the European Council's decision on Thursday night.