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Timmermans: EU’s 2030 climate goal ‘can now be increased to 57%’
(EurActiv, 14 Nov 2022) The European Union’s climate chief, Frans Timmermans, arrives in Sharm El-Sheikh for the COP27 summit with some good news: The EU’s 2030 climate goal “can now be increased to 57%,” from 55% previously, he confirmed.
Global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not supposed to be the primary focus of the COP27 taking place in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Instead, this year’s annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is meant to focus chiefly on adaptation to the inevitable effects of global warming – such as rising sea levels, storms or floods, which have ravaged Pakistan in June, killing more than 1,700 people.
Speaking to journalists on Friday (11 November) before his departure to Egypt, Timmermans said he was fully aware of this, saying adaptation to global warming and the issue of compensation – or loss and damage – were “first and foremost on the agenda of what is essentially an African COP”.
Yet, the EU’s climate chief also insisted that mitigation – the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – was still vitally important to maintain a chance of keeping global warming below 2.0 degrees Celsius, and if possible under 1.5°C, one of the goals of the Paris Agreement.
“If we don’t drastically reduce our emissions, there’s no amount of money or effort put into adaptation or loss and damage that will allow humanity to face the catastrophes that will occur,” he argued.
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EurActiv, 14 Nov 2022: Timmermans: EU’s 2030 climate goal ‘can now be increased to 57%’
