Share this on social media
EU commission accused of 'cheating' on net-zero emissions accounting
(The Guardian, 14 Sep 2020) Leaked proposal includes carbon sinks provided by trees, soils and oceans in target.
The EU executive has been accused of “cheating” on its 2030 climate plans by proposing to include carbon sinks provided by trees, soils and oceans in its emissions reduction goal.
The European commission will this week call for an EU emissions reduction target of “at least 55%” by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, according to a leaked draft seen by the Guardian. The proposal sets the stage for an intense political battle over the autumn to agree the target, intended to set the EU on track to meet a landmark pledge of net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.
But critics say Brussels is guilty of an “accounting trick” that makes the proposed 2030 target look higher than it really is. The row turns on the concept of “removals”, a reference to sinks that absorb more carbon than they emit, such as forests, soils and oceans.
External link
The Guardian, 14 Sep 2020: EU commission accused of 'cheating' on net-zero emissions accounting
More Related News
European Green Deal
15 Apr 2024: Green Deal 2.0: Spain’s Ribera lays down vision for next Commission
9 Apr 2024: The Guardian view on Europe’s troubled green deal: make the case, not concessions
21 Mar 2024: Lobby groups call for business-friendly turn of the EU Green Deal
12 Mar 2024: The European Green Deal isn’t coping with a turbulent world. What must change?
9 Feb 2024: Next EU legislative term must reconcile climate and industry, says French think tank
26 Jan 2024: Polish farmers rally against Green Deal, Ukrainian food imports
11 Jan 2024: 2024-2029: Five years to deliver the Green Deal’s mobility promises
22 Dec 2023: Preview 2024: Elections to shape future of European Green Deal
4 Dec 2023: Czech far-right parties to push for Green Deal reversal after EU elections
28 Sep 2023: EU faces ‘make or break moment’ for green transition, report says
8 Sep 2023: Climate policy focus now shifting to implementation, EU says
26 Jun 2023: EU must pick up speed to reach climate goals, report says
5 Jun 2023: Green Deal: EU’s Timmermans rules out ‘break’ in the green transition
11 May 2023: Austrian conservatives join pushback against EU’s Green Deal
23 Sep 2022: Half of Czechs fear EU Green Deal will harm economy
6 Sep 2022: EU Parliament fights over sustainability criteria for insurance sector
19 May 2022: EU plans ‘massive’ increase in green energy to help end reliance on Russia
14 Jan 2022: Draft EU ‘green claims’ law overly focused on CO2 impact, critics say
13 Dec 2021: EU’s Timmermans: Brussels ‘will support’ member states that choose nuclear
30 Nov 2021: Barbara Steenberge: Green Deal cannot be paid by the most vulnerable tenants
25 Oct 2021: Nothing is more blah-blah-blah than the EU’s ‘sustainable’ trade policy
9 Jul 2021: Balance climate ambition with recovery efforts so that East can meet West
6 Jul 2021: VW, Daimler, Volvo team up to build truck chargers
14 Jun 2021: Five steps the EU can take to create a circular economy for cars
26 Apr 2021: From coal and steel to carbon-free and digital: the EU reaches turning point
26 Apr 2021: Von der Leyen calls for African green deal
5 Apr 2021: Mercosur trade deal threatens to wreck EU’s climate credibility
18 Mar 2021: ‘Very big tasks ahead’ in EU climate law negotiations
9 Mar 2021: Austria vetoes Mercosur deal saying it goes against EU Green Deal
9 Mar 2021: Crunch time in the climate law negotiations
2 Mar 2021: EU plotting ban on internal combustion engine as of 2025: industry
23 Feb 2021: Why the Commission is getting it wrong on climate number-crunching
22 Feb 2021: Only fractions of global heavy industry are aligned with Paris climate goals
22 Feb 2021: A new, climate-innovation led industrial strategy for Europe
8 Feb 2021: Germany’s RWE uses Energy Charter Treaty to challenge Dutch coal phase-out
25 Jan 2021: Europe must become a global climate power
21 Jan 2021: Slovakia struggles to keep pace with rapidly transforming car sector
18 Jan 2021: Brussels postponed green finance rules after 10 EU states wielded veto
14 Jan 2021: Businesses and consumers will decide whether the EU Green Deal works
21 Dec 2020: Time for a global Green New Deal
21 Dec 2020: From Paris to Glasgow: the EU must drive climate action at home and abroad
17 Dec 2020: EU agrees its green transition fund will not support natural gas
17 Dec 2020: EU shifts energy infrastructure funding away from gas, into electricity grids
11 Dec 2020: EU seeks 2030 climate deal by delaying decision on details
10 Dec 2020: Which technologies should be in the EU’s climate action toolbox?
7 Dec 2020: EU climate deal unlikely without breakthrough on budget, envoy says
7 Dec 2020: Time to step up: 5 years on from Paris
30 Nov 2020: Parliament backs consumer’s right to repair in push towards circular economy
30 Nov 2020: Energy: A critical raw material in its own right?
30 Nov 2020: Europe on track to smash its 2020 climate goal, EEA says
19 Nov 2020: European Green Deal needs to deliver on global challenges
27 Oct 2020: Europe needs a system change to meet Green Deal, says EU chief
5 Oct 2020: Energy performance in buildings is key to meeting 2030 emissions target
25 Sep 2020: EU considers allowing more state aid to boost green projects
15 Sep 2020: An EU 2030 climate target of at least 55% is not only necessary – it is also possible
14 Sep 2020: LEAK: EU’s 2030 climate plan makes case for 55% emissions cut
10 Sep 2020: Showcasing the need to improve energy performance of industry
25 Aug 2020: Draft EU methane strategy shies away from binding emissions standards
24 Aug 2020: EU can help Africa become the ‘greenest continent’: German minister
24 Aug 2020: Tougher EU climate target technically, economically feasible, researchers say
21 Aug 2020: Environment agenda: EU climate talks enter decisive phase
20 Aug 2020: Transport timetable: What’s moving in late 2020
15 Jul 2020: Green budget rules won’t be the hottest potato at EU summit talks
14 Jul 2020: A green and innovative recovery
14 Jul 2020: EU budget plan falls far short on climate goals, researchers say
13 Jul 2020: Renewable hydrogen: a strategic opportunity for global green recovery
10 Jul 2020: MEPs ban nuclear from green transition fund, leave loophole for gas
10 Jul 2020: EU Commission charts path towards 100% renewable hydrogen
10 Jul 2020: EU unveils blueprint for a more efficient energy system
15 Jun 2020: Europe’s oil refiners outline path to climate neutrality by 2050
8 Jun 2020: Policy brief: Energy sector integration
29 May 2020: EU lawmakers debate 65% climate target proposal
28 May 2020: The European Investment Bank must go further to truly become a ‘climate bank’
28 May 2020: EU recovery fund is a chance to accelerate the circular economy
26 May 2020: In political U-turn, Czechs back EU’s green recovery plan
25 May 2020: Green recovery hinges on the right data
21 May 2020: The EU’s state aid regime is upside down
21 May 2020: EU’s ‘Clean Hydrogen Alliance’ must focus on renewables, greens insist
19 May 2020: EU plans sweeping bioenergy review by end 2020
14 May 2020: Environmental NGOs launch appeal for green reconstruction
8 May 2020: Financiers join EU ‘green recovery alliance’
7 May 2020: How the coronavirus recovery effort can support a European Green Deal
7 May 2020: EU eyes green conditions on state aid to virus-hit firms
5 May 2020: EU climate neutrality goal not negotiable amid pandemic - lawmakers
4 May 2020: Green Deal will be ‘our motor for the recovery’, von der Leyen says
23 Apr 2020: Timmermans promises green recovery to EU lawmakers
20 Apr 2020: Four more EU nations back a green post-coronavirus recovery
16 Apr 2020: Which world do we want after COVID-19?
16 Apr 2020: How the coronavirus outbreak affects the EU’s 2030 climate targets
16 Apr 2020: LEAKED: Full list of delayed European Green Deal initiatives
2 Apr 2020: ‘We won’t slow down’ on climate: EU reacts to COP26 postponement
2 Apr 2020: Global hopes for hydrogen economy revived amid EU push
2 Apr 2020: EU presses on with tighter 2030 climate target despite pandemic
1 Apr 2020: #EUGreenRecovery to restart Europe – call to EU leaders
31 Mar 2020: Stakeholders call for ‘reality check’ on EU road transport and energy policy
30 Mar 2020: Poland says virus fallout makes it ‘even more difficult’ to hit EU climate goal
26 Mar 2020: Beyond the corona darkness: Bringing light, air and sustainability into people’s homes
24 Mar 2020: EU cost-benefit study seen backing 55% emissions cut by 2030
19 Mar 2020: Green Deal deserves a better Energy Taxation Directive in 2020, not years from now
19 Mar 2020: Green Deal facing delays due to coronavirus, EU admits
17 Mar 2020: Czech PM urges EU to ditch Green Deal amid virus
10 Mar 2020: EU’s industrial strategy must serve climate neutrality, not undermine it
10 Mar 2020: EU experts recommend two-tier approach to ‘green’ investment rules
10 Mar 2020: Exxon lobbyists urged Commission to tune down car CO2 rules
10 Mar 2020: Eleven million jobs at risk from EU Green Deal, trade unions warn
3 Mar 2020: Bulgaria wants €33 billion to start implementing the Green Deal
3 Mar 2020: Environment groups say EU's planned climate law means a lost decade
3 Mar 2020: EU’s just transition ambitions face acid test
20 Feb 2020: The European Green Deal will bypass the poor and go straight to the rich
13 Feb 2020: EU starts to chart shipping’s new green course
6 Feb 2020: The role of sustainable bioenergy in delivering the European Green Deal
6 Feb 2020: Europe plans to harness ‘power of data’ in support of Green Deal
4 Feb 2020: Germany is not fit for a climate changed world, but it can still lead the way
27 Jan 2020: Piecing together Europe’s climate finance puzzle
23 Jan 2020: EU Green Deal can help set the tone for CEOs in Davos
23 Jan 2020: EU’s Breton looking into ‘non-conventional’ measures to finance Green Deal
21 Jan 2020: Industrial decarbonisation and the EU Green Deal: The case for bold action
16 Jan 2020: ‘Green’ alert: environmental risks top Davos report
16 Jan 2020: Not all member states will benefit from the European Green Deal
16 Jan 2020: Question marks raised over scale of EU’s new climate fund
16 Dec 2019: The indispensable second wave of the Green Deal: A Green Industry Strategy
12 Dec 2019: France, UK block green finance deal in setback for climate goals
12 Dec 2019: Europe must lead on the climate crisis. The European Green Deal shows how
12 Dec 2019: EU Commission unveils ‘European Green Deal’: The key points
9 Dec 2019: Time is ripe to align EU policies with Paris Climate Agreement
6 Dec 2019: EU agreement on 2050 climate neutrality can help spur a renovation wave
Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
12 Apr 2024: EU Parliament approves deal on world’s first carbon removal certification scheme
9 Apr 2024: Forest carbon accounting allows Guyana to stay net zero while pumping oil
2 Apr 2024: ExxonMobil accused of ‘greenwashing’ over carbon capture plan it failed to invest in
4 Mar 2024: France strikes CO2 storage deal with Denmark
1 Mar 2024: Germany to adopt 2060 target for net-negative greenhouse gas emissions
27 Feb 2024: Berlin launches ‘milestone’ strategies to capture and remove CO2 permanently
6 Feb 2024: Q&A: The EU industrial carbon management strategy
1 Feb 2024: German carbon capture row heightened by EU’s draft 2040 climate plan
30 Jan 2024: EU Commission wants captured CO2 to become ‘tradeable commodity’
19 Jan 2024: What to make of Europe’s upcoming carbon management strategy
11 Jan 2024: German industry joins forces with green groups on CO2 capture
12 Dec 2023: With Africa's carbon sinks up for grabs, offset debate heats up
11 Dec 2023: COP28: Can 'carbon capture' keep fossil fuels viable?
28 Nov 2023: German Greens make way for European carbon management plan
24 Nov 2023: EU tables new regulation to track climate threats to forests using satellites
14 Nov 2023: UK sued for counting wood burning with carbon capture as ‘negative emissions’
30 Oct 2023: Heavy industry turns to carbon capture to clean up its act
27 Oct 2023: ‘Carbon gamble’? EU lawmakers back CO2 removal certification scheme
26 Sep 2023: Green NGO supports controversial CCS to ensure e-fuels reach CO2 neutrality
21 Sep 2023: Industrial carbon capture: Only for truly ‘unavoidable emissions’
20 Jul 2023: Spanish EU Presidency draws criticism on carbon capture technology
7 Jul 2023: With EU blessing, Denmark aims to corner carbon capture market
12 Jun 2023: Carbon markets will not save our planet
26 May 2023: UN advises against offsets for carbon removal technologies
25 May 2023: ‘Worthless’: Chevron’s carbon offsets are mostly junk and some may harm, research says
12 May 2023: After court blocks renewables push, US promotes carbon capture & hydrogen
11 May 2023: Is 2023 the year when carbon capture and storage finally takes off?
9 May 2023: Nations split over fossil fuels and carbon capture
28 Apr 2023: Mitsubishi bets on carbon removal while keeping coal plants
21 Apr 2023: US carbon capture incentives leave EU ‘lagging behind’, biofuel makers warn
20 Apr 2023: Volcanic microbe eats CO2 ‘astonishingly quickly’, say scientists
4 Apr 2023: The Guardian view on carbon offsetting: an overhaul is overdue
24 Mar 2023: EU says ‘not banning carbon offsets’ in greenwashing crackdown
20 Mar 2023: EU sets world’s first target for underground CO2 storage capacity
13 Mar 2023: Sunak to focus on carbon capture and mini-nuclear reactors in energy policy
3 Mar 2023: Japan’s ‘green transformation’ would derail the energy transition in Asia
21 Feb 2023: Corporations push “insetting” as new offsetting but report claims it is even worse
10 Feb 2023: Denmark to put CO2 in seabed in step towards carbon negativity
27 Jan 2023: The Guardian view on carbon offsetting: a model with dangerous flaws
12 Jan 2023: Fossil fuel producers must be forced to ‘take back’ carbon, say scientists
23 Dec 2022: Carbon farming explained: the pros, the cons and the EU's plans
2 Dec 2022: EU Commission wants farmers, landowners to lead carbon removal push
25 Nov 2022: Could hemp be a key tool in fight against climate change?
22 Nov 2022: EU readies certification of carbon removals to help tackle climate change
15 Nov 2022: Deal reached on EU law regulating CO2 removals from forestry, land use
7 Nov 2022: Europe rapidly losing its forest carbon sink, study shows
28 Oct 2022: EU energy chief announces ‘strategic vision’ for CCUS in 2023
25 Jul 2022: EU could catch up with North America on carbon removal, experts say
5 Jul 2022: Payment for carbon farming: Towards an ambitious and pragmatic certification scheme
24 May 2022: Big tech’s growing embrace raises the stakes for CO2 removal
28 Apr 2022: Widespread carbon capture in Southeast Asia unviable without carbon pricing: report
22 Feb 2022: Europe aims to scale up infrastructure for permanent carbon removals
31 Jan 2022: Carbon offsetting is not warding off environmental collapse – it’s accelerating it
17 Dec 2021: Commission’s carbon farming ambition just buries the problem, stakeholders warn
16 Dec 2021: A sustainable carbons cycle or a vicious emissions cycle?
7 Dec 2021: Old UK oilwells could be turned into CO2 burial test sites
3 Dec 2021: A powerful and underappreciated ally in the climate crisis? Fungi
30 Nov 2021: EXPLAINER: What is 'net zero' and why does it matter?
4 Nov 2021: Forget net-zero: meet the small-nation, carbon-negative club
26 Oct 2021: Deforestation continues unabated ahead of COP26
4 Oct 2021: Cop26 must urgently get specific on carbon removal in net-zero pathways
17 Sep 2021: EU plans certification scheme for carbon dioxide removals
17 Sep 2021: EU plans certification scheme for carbon dioxide removals
10 Sep 2021: World’s largest plant capturing carbon from air starts in Iceland
27 Jul 2021: Indonesia to burn coal well into the 2050s, under updated climate plan
27 Jul 2021: Indonesia to burn coal well into the 2050s, under updated climate plan
4 Jun 2021: Bill Gates and EU pledge $1 billion boost for green technology
31 May 2021: Climate change: six priorities for pulling carbon out of the air
10 May 2021: Dutch govt grants $2.4 bln in subsidies to huge carbon storage project
4 Mar 2021: The climate crisis can't be solved by carbon accounting tricks
8 Feb 2021: Elon Musk puts up $100 mln for global carbon reduction competition
14 Jan 2021: Carbon capture and storage won’t work, critics say
14 Jan 2021: China pushes technical solutions in race to meet climate goals
14 Dec 2020: 10 myths about net zero targets and carbon offsetting, busted
29 Oct 2020: BP leads energy companies preparing two major UK carbon capture projects
23 Oct 2020: Official: EU taking first steps to bring forestry into carbon market
15 Oct 2020: Microsoft in deal with Equinor for Norway CO2 storage project
8 Oct 2020: Carbon capture 'moonshot' moves closer, as billions of dollars pour in
28 Sep 2020: Growing momentum behind carbon capture can make it a new clean energy success story
24 Sep 2020: What is carbon capture, usage and storage – and can it trap emissions?
22 Sep 2020: EU Commission defends 2030 climate target against ‘accounting trick’ critique
21 Sep 2020: Seas and forests are muddying the carbon budget
21 Sep 2020: Norway to spend $1.8 bln on world's first full-scale CCS chain
4 Sep 2020: World’s first ‘carbon-capture at sea’ set for shipping trials
9 Jun 2020: The hyping of negative emissions
28 May 2020: There is space for carbon storage underground
23 Apr 2020: Could Microsoft’s climate crisis ‘moonshot’ plan really work?
13 Mar 2020: Tropical forests may be heating Earth by 2035
6 Mar 2020: World can avoid catastrophic global warming with climate solutions in hand today – study
10 Feb 2020: Do you have it in green? The living fabrics that can help clean the air
