The EU climate plan envisages a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. “There are no signs that sufficient funds will be available,” warns the EU calculator.
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Posted on 06/26/2023 at 8:05 p.m. Updated on 06/26/2023 20:06
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MEPs will vote on June 22, 2022 in the European Parliament in Brussels for a reform of the carbon market. (JOHN THYS / AFP)
The EU is not up to it yet. The European Union’s Court of Auditors warned on Monday, June 26, that the ambitious European climate targets for 2030 had “taken a backseat”. For this European institution, there is “little evidence” that the planned measures and funding would be sufficient to achieve these goals. The EU climate plan envisages a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, accompanied by increases in energy efficiency and a binding target of 42.5% of the share of renewable energy in energy consumption.
The EU has basically achieved the climate and energy goals that it had set itself for 2020. However, this was achieved “thanks in particular to external factors” such as the 2009 financial crisis and the Covid 19 pandemic, which led to a decrease in consumption and CO2 emissions, the court notes in a report. “Concern now hovers” over the coming years. “We have found little evidence that the ambitious targets for 2030 will lead to sufficient measures. There are no indications that sufficient funds will be available,” notes the Luxembourg-based institution.
“It is clear that more effort is needed”
In its previous 2014-2020 budget, the EU was supposed to spend 20% on climate action, but according to the auditors only 13% was actually earmarked for it. The EU has committed to spend at least 30% of its 2021-2027 budget on climate protection from now on, i.e. 87 billion euros per year. Even if this is respected, “this amount represents less than 10% of the total investments required, which are estimated at 1,000 billion per year. The rest should come from national and private funds,” the report said.
However, there is no guarantee for the latter due to a lack of details. The available data on investment needs and sources of financing “are not sufficient to determine whether national (climate) plans provide a solid basis for 2030”, the court regrets. “These plans don’t say much about how to close the gap.” [de financements]. “Many signals do not make us optimistic, it is clear that more efforts are needed,” commented the auditor Lorenzo Pirelli to the press.
Main danger: “Lack of transparency” due to the “flexibility” given to states to achieve their national goals. As a result, to meet their 2020 commitments, several countries had to buy emission quotas or shares of renewable energy from other countries that had exceeded their targets. In April 2023, France had not yet bought the missing shares to meet its renewable target, a unique case in the EU.
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