EU will not aim to tighten emissions reduction target ahead of COP24

The European Commission has given up plans to tighten the European emissions reduction goal for 2030 ahead of the UN climate conference COP24 in Katowice as member states did not voice sufficient support for the ambitious target to reduce CO₂ levels by 45 percent instead of just 40 percent compared to 1990 levels, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The Commission insisted that EU energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete never announced an official target increase but according to the article, both Canete and commission president Jean-Claude Juncker were in favour of tighter reduction goals to sharpen the EU’s environmental protection profile. Together with other European lobby groups, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) opposed tighter targets while German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said: “I don’t think that constantly coming up with new targets makes sense.” Canete, however, argues that these are a logical consequence of a greater share of renewables that the EU states agreed on in spring, the article says.

For background, read the CLEW dossier Germany's energy transition in the European context.