EU pressures other polluting countries to cut emissions faster

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The European Union is pressing other big polluters to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions as it faces an internal battle over its own climate targets.

Senior officials in Brussels told the Financial Times they want big economies such as China, India and the US to share the burden as European consumers and industry begin to shave off the cost of the green transition needed to the energy system.

Today the world’s largest emitters are the US, China and India, followed by the European Union.

The bloc’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions is set to drop from 16.8 percent in 1990 to 7.3 percent in 2021, according to European Commission data. The EU cut emissions by almost a third, mainly due to a reduction in dirty coal in the electricity mix, while China and India’s share increased as energy demand rose.

But the EU is now grappling with internal debate over setting a 2040 target for reducing emissions.

Geopolitical tensions are rising over climate policies as governments grapple with overstretched budgets, with extreme weather raising fears about global warming.

Surviving the Paris goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels requires a 43 percent drop in global emissions by 2030.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the world is on track for a temperature rise of between 2.4C and 2.6C by 2100.

US climate envoy John Kerry is resuming climate talks in China this week after environment ministers from G20 countries, including China, met in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to set the agenda for the UN COP28 summit in the United Arab Emirates , where a “global stock take” would occur.

The EU has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent in 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050, with a target of 2040 considered a milestone.

Draft text being drawn up by EU countries ahead of COP28, seen by the FT, shows a section committed to updating the bloc’s contribution from 55 per cent to 57 per cent has been bracketed, meaning That this could be changed before the UN summit in December. ,

The EU’s Chief Scientific Advisory Board has suggested that this should be set at 95 per cent.

But officials question whether it will be politically feasible to accelerate the pace of change ahead of EU-wide elections next June.

EU diplomats said there had been “difficult discussions” over the target with Poland and Romania among bloc countries opposing the hike.

Others favor swift action. Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s special envoy on climate policy, said the target “shouldn’t be just a number – it should be a driver of the modernization and resilience of our companies and communities”. This sentiment was shared by several EU environment ministers who called for progress. Climate change was discussed in Spain last week.

Lawmakers worry that backlash against green change could grow as EU industry is being squeezed by US rivals, with lower energy costs and subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act, and China’s dominance of the supply chain for green technologies. Is.

“It gives the EU space if we get China to commit to higher emissions reduction targets,” said an EU official.

The Commission recently warned that without a higher target “the EU would be at risk of missing its domestic climate objective for 2050 and potentially weaken its ability to promote climate action internationally”.