The European Council recommended this month that the European Union set a more ambitious goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, endorsing a 55% reduction from 1990 levels compared to the current goal of 40%.
The direction, which will now become a topic of negotiation between the commission’s president and the European Parliament, would probably accelerate the region’s shift toward renewable energy and further ratchet restrictions on vehicular emissions.
Support for renewable energy has led to rapid expansion in the number of wind turbines around Europe. Limits on automotive emissions of carbon dioxide triggered mandates for improvements in fuel economy of cars and trucks and are now resulting in a shift toward electric vehicles.
As part of its commitment under the United Nations’ Paris Accord – which aims to halt global warming by 2050 – the European Union has adopted a goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions 40% from 1990 levels by 2030, on the way to neutrality by 2050. On Dec. 17 the council announced an agreement to change the 2030 target to a reduction of 55%.
Representatives of the body, which consists of the heads of state of EU member countries, said they believe the planet’s climate crisis is urgent enough that it needs more aggressive action.
The council’s presidency is now tasked with negotiating with the EU Parliament to reach a political agreement that translates the guidance into law.
Observers agree that a more aggressive tack would likely focus on the power industry and also automobile emissions. An advisory body to the EU has already recommended tightening automotive emissions to such an extent that industry groups complain that it would essentially prohibit sales of vehicles running solely on internal combustion engines by 2025.