Europe’s fresh COP28 climate pledge opposed over emissions cuts
European Union nations are resisting an updated climate pledge showing the bloc is on course to over-deliver on emissions cuts ahead of COP28, in the latest sign of concern over the pace of the green transition. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is aiming to submit by September a revised pledge showing it’s on course to slash carbon emissions by 57% by 2030, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg. But Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Romania are concerned that the figure — higher than the 55% targeted under the bloc’s green deal — is too ambitious, according to people familiar with the matter.
The EU’s climate chief Frans Timmermans has said the bloc will overachieve its goals, with green deal proposals such as an overhaul of its carbon market and higher CO2 removals from its natural sinks now finalized. The EU will also push for a phase out of all fossil fuels, the bloc’s draft negotiating position seen by Bloomberg said. The energy sector will have to be free of them “well ahead” of 2050, it added.
The fact that the bloc is implementing policies on the quest for climate neutrality is a model for other countries, Timmermans said at the COP27 summit in Egypt last year. The world is currently not on track to keep global warming below the target of 1.5C laid out by the Paris Agreement, numerous scientific reports have said. Despite that, the EU’s own climate plans have come under attack in recent months, with countries pushing for carve-outs in rules for scaling up renewable energy and phasing out the combustion engine in new cars.
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