Europe Seeks to Bring Its Laggards on Climate Policy Into Line

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is working to bring member states that are lagging on climate and energy targets into line, stepping up pressure for more action to reduce pollution.

Several nations from the 28-member bloc on Tuesday expressed concern after an analysis that showed the region may miss goal to boost clean energy use and efficiency by almost a third by 2030.

EU energy ministers meeting in Brussels are discussing how to avoid slippage and give credibility to plans for a target for zeroing out fossil fuel pollution by the middle of the century. Supporters of the move say ambition of that magnitude is needed to prevent the worst impacts of a warming atmosphere.

“The EU has to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, which means 80%-90% reduction of greenhouse gases,” Joao Galamba, Portugal’s secretary of state for energy, told his counterparts in a debate. “The EU long-term vision for a prosperous can only be met if there’s a solid contribution from the energy sector, in particular with clear action in key areas such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, asked the majority of member states in June to intensify their actions and is seeking to lead the fight against global warming. The discussions follow a United Nations summit in New York designed to draw attention to the issue.

Ursula von der Leyen, due to become EC president in November, has pledged a Green Deal for Europe, including a proposal during her 100 days in office to enshrine the climate-neutrality goal in law.

“We promote this dialogue at a time when the world leaders have just met in New York to call for leadership and ambition in fighting climate change and the EU cannot remain indifferent to this,” Galamba said.

A package of green economy measures dubbed EU 2030 stopped short of imposing renewable energy targets at national levels. Instead, the union opted for a collective goal for the bloc as a whole to get at least 32% of its energy from renewables.

So far, that goal remains just out of reach. An assessment by the commission earlier this year showed that proportion will reach 30.4% to 31.9% by the end of the decade, meaning further action is required both to hit the current target and to open the option for a deeper net-zero goal for 2050.

Countries including Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovenia had the biggest gaps between the planned measures and the scale of effort needed at the EU level. During the ministerial debate on Tuesday, the countries pointed to national geographical or infrastructure constraints and high costs that would have to be borne to further increase the share of renewables and boost energy savings.

The EU efficiency target, which calls for saving at least 32.5% of energy by 2030, is also at risk. Current plans may be enough to attain 26.3% to 30.2% of efficiency in primary energy consumption, the EC said. The best performers are Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Netherlands and France.

Transport and agriculture will be a particular focus. Those sectors are outside the Emissions Trading System, the region’s cap-and-trade market for carbon dioxide pollution.

While the overall reduction is projected to be in line with the target to lower emissions by at least 40%, the decline in non-ETS sectors may be 2 percentage points short of the 30% objective.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at ekrukowska@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Andrew Reierson

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