EU lawmaker puts 65% emissions cut on the table – EURACTIV.com
https://www.euractiv.com/...climate-environment/news/eu-lawmaker-puts-65-emissions-cut-on-the-table/
Environmental activists applauded the move. “The big lesson of the COVID-19 crisis is that governments need to listen to the science and act accordingly,” said Sebastian Mang, EU climate policy adviser at Greenpeace.
“Ms Guteland realises that the EU needs to take the same approach to the climate emergency,” Mang said, warning that the trillions that will be spent on the coronavirus recovery “will make or break EU climate action”.
Even though Guteland’s position will add to the discussion, the 65% target proposal is unlikely to garner support from a majority in the European Parliament.
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the EU assembly, said it was ready to back a 50% emission target for 2030 but would not go further without a thorough cost-benefit analysis and comparable commitments from other big polluters such as the US and China.
“The EPP Group wants to set CO2 emission targets to at least 50% by 2030 with an option to increase this by 55% if certain conditions are met,” said Esther de Lange, a Dutch MEP who is vice-chair of the EPP.
“In order to move beyond a 50% target to 55%, we need a prior impact assessment and international cooperation,” she said in a statement published in March, when the Commission tabled its landmark climate law.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel follows the same line, saying on Tuesday that she “welcomes” the Commission’s plans for a 50-55% target by 2030.