KEY MESSAGES
- We welcome the announcement of the 90% emissions reduction target for 2040 as a strategic milestone for setting the EU’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2035. As a strong supporter of the Paris Agreement, Eurelectric urges the EU to rapidly agree on these files to maintain its global climate leadership and ensure business clarity for investors.
- While the EU is taking determined steps to reach climate neutrality, it is currently responsible for only 6% of global GHG emissions. We call on other parties of the Paris Agreement to enhance their commitments to reducing GHG emissions, Otherwise, it will not be possible to limit global warming to 1.5 C in line with the common goal.
- Climate targets need to be reinforced with a coherent, practical, technology-neutral, and similarly ambitious policy framework supported by a robust NDC revision process.
- We support the further expansion of carbon pricing as an already demonstrated, direct and cost-efficient driver of decarbonisation. In Europe, CBAM addresses the concerns around carbon leakage and competitiveness, pending a corresponding CO2 price in the other major economies. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) could serve as a model, and we encourage for it to be linked with similarly designed and stringent carbon markets to create a more global carbon market.
- We acknowledge the role of carbon removals and international carbon credits, as well as proposed sectoral balancing to allow for greater flexibility in achieving the targets. Eurelectric hopes to see progress on operationalising international carbon markets under Article 6. These markets must uphold environmental integrity and transparency and address concerns of double counting of emissions reductions. We reiterate that emissions reductions and decarbonising our own energy systems in Europe must have priority and that carbon removals and international credits should only complement, not replace nor undermine, reduction efforts.
- We view trade barriers as obstacles to decarbonisation and electrification since they can impede the distribution of net-zero technologies (NZTs), which rely heavily on global supply chains.
- We emphasise the need for a just energy transition that acknowledges the concerns of industry and vulnerable communities. NDCs should jointly deliver decarbonisation, competitiveness, and social fairness to ensure that all global constituencies converge towards the common goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C.