EU cost-benefit study seen backing 55% emissions cut by 2030

(EurActiv, 23 Mar 2020) In the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, the European Commission published last week what would have otherwise been a high-profile initiative: the launch of a cost-benefit analysis of increasing the EU’s climate ambition for 2030 in view of reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century.

The draft analysis, released on Thursday (19 March), is only at “inception” stage, but it does give an indication as to where the Commission is heading as it tries to steer the 27-member EU towards climate neutrality by 2050.

“Global warming has already reached 1°C and the world is currently not on track to achieve the Paris Agreement,” the document says, arguing that “EU leadership in 2020 is needed more than ever” to keep warming below 2°C.

“The EU’s ability to demonstrate the feasibility of a trajectory to climate neutrality and to manage a just transition will send a strong signal to other countries to follow suit,” the document argues.

To keep in line with the Paris goals, the European Commission has committed to raising the EU’s greenhouse gas reduction objective for 2030 – from a 40% cut in emissions to a 50 or 55% cut compared to 1990 levels.

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EurActiv, 23 Mar 2020: EU cost-benefit study seen backing 55% emissions cut by 2030