UPDATED 2 July 08:55: Denmark's EU presidency has barely begun before the EU Commission on Wednesday puts one of the biggest tasks of the six-month presidency on Denmark's table. The EU Commission will present its proposal for a new 2040 climate target on Wednesday.
The proposal is expected to set out a reduction in greenhouse gases by 90 percent in 2040 compared to greenhouse gas emissions in 1990. EU Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, cannot reveal the details of the target before the presentation on Wednesday, but he sees the 2040 target as crucial on the EU's path towards climate neutrality in 2050.
- Climate change is not going away. Every year we see new heat records, and that is why we must act. We are clearly feeling that these days. I acknowledge that it is difficult for some countries. But for me it is absolutely crucial that the EU sticks to a high climate target for 2040, says Dan Jørgensen.
While the temperature in Denmark is expected to reach around 30 degrees on the day of the presentation of the climate target, Brussels and several parts of Southern Europe are already at 36 degrees. That is why the climate target must be implemented, says Dan Jørgensen.
- It benefits the climate and provides the necessary political commitment and predictability that companies need when they are going to invest in the green transition, he says.
Kira Marie Peter-Hansen fears climate credits
The lack of a majority for the 2040 climate target in the EU Parliament, however, makes SF's Kira Marie Peter-Hansen concerned about whether the EU institutions can agree on the target during the Danish EU presidency.
- The worst would be if we got a climate target below 90 percent, or if we got a climate target where we use climate credits, says Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, who represents the Greens group in the EU Parliament.
SF specifically supports a reduction of between 90 and 95 percent.
One of the big debates is expected to be whether countries may be allowed to buy climate credits in third countries and count them in the accounts. Climate credits can be investments in projects in third countries that reduce CO2 emissions. According to advocates of climate credits, the investing countries should be able to count this as compensation for their own consumption.
The criticism of climate credits is that it will be difficult to measure how much individual countries emit, and that it will be difficult to hold countries accountable for their emissions. According to Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, it is a way to destroy the foundation of "how we understand climate policy".
- It ends up that we will not be able to limit emissions as much as we would if we set the target without climate credits.
She fears that the conservative group EPP "would rather stand on the side of the fossil fuel industry than on the side of the climate".
- If we are to have any hopes of fulfilling the Paris Agreement, we must achieve climate reductions of at least 90 percent by 2040.
This is also how the recommendations from the EU's Climate Council have sounded. Kira Marie Peter-Hansen would ideally like the EU to become climate neutral in 2040, but that is unrealistic, she says.
- So it is in order to make science-based climate policy that I am putting myself out there, she says.
After the EU Commission has published its proposal for the 2040 target, the target must be adopted in the EU Parliament and in the EU Council of Ministers under the Danish presidency.
According to Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, the conservative EPP group has not yet clearly announced whether it supports the 90 percent target.
Conservatives: Climate credits necessary
However, the Conservative People's Party's Niels Flemming Hansen, who represents the EPP in the EU Parliament, says that he supports the target. He believes that it is important that there is room for "more realistic and adapted solutions".
- If we want to succeed with our climate goals, it is crucial that everyone contributes, but this must be done in a way that takes into account the different starting points and possibilities, he says.
According to Niels Flemming Hansen, it is relevant to look at climate credits because large countries such as Poland and France are fighting against the 90 percent. Without climate credits, we will not achieve it, he believes.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
