European Union (EU) leaders reach agreement to reduce emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
Lexology (subscription) reported on a number of agreements made by EU leaders regarding the environment recently, including a pledge to “cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 as compared with 1990 levels”, and a “target to obtain at least 27 percent of the EU’s energy from renewable sources” within the same period; as well as a “voluntary target to cut energy use by at least 27 percent as against baseline levels”.
In the 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework, published on 24 October, the European Council stated of the greenhouse gas emissions target that “all member states will participate in this effort, balancing considerations of fairness and solidarity” and that the target will be achieved through a “well-functioning, reformed Emissions Trading System (ETS)”.
It adds that two percent of the ETS allowances “will be set aside to address particularly high additional investment needs in low income member states” that have a GDP below 60 percent of the EU average, which “will be used to improve energy efficiency and to modernise the energy systems of these member states, so as to provide their citizens with cleaner, secure and affordable energy”. Meanwhile, 10 percent of the ETS allowances will be “distributed among those countries whose GDP per capita did not exceed 90 percent of the EU average” in 2013; and the rest will be “distributed among all member states on the basis of verified emissions”.
As a result of the agreement, the number of EU member states that have agreed to emissions targets reaching beyond 2020 has risen from five to 28, which Lexology notes is “the entire EU bloc”.
In order to reach the 40 percent reduction target agreed by the leaders, “power companies and other industries covered by the EU’s ETS will be required to reduce their emissions by 43 percent compared to 2005 levels”; while sectors outside the ETS will have to reduce emissions by 30 percent compared to 2005 levels.
In terms of individual countries within the EU, the article notes that the EU level figures outlined will be “translated into individual member state targets by 2021”; with the agreement allowing member states to “decarbonise in a manner of their choosing”.
Responding to the agreement on behalf of the UK government, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said that it would be “good for consumers”, allowing the UK to “decarbonise at the lowest possible cost using a diverse mix of technologies”; while for businesses it “provides the certainty they have been calling for to unlock billions in low carbon investment”.
The Recycler reported in November that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to cap China’s carbon emissions and increase use of zero-emission energy sources to 20 percent by 2030, as part of a “secretly negotiated” deal with US President Barack Obama; marking the first time that China – the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases – has agreed to cap emissions.