Climate & Energy Targets

In a letter to the European Commission sent last week, environment ministers representing 10 EU Member States have called upon the EU’s executive to clearly support a target of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050 and propose a higher 2030 target in the draft long-term climate strategy to be published on 28 November.

The General Court of the European Union has decided today to annul the European Commission’s decision not to raise objections to the aid scheme establishing a ‘capacity market’ in the United Kingdom. The ruling puts into question many capacity mechanisms in place across Europe, including the Polish capacity market which is based on the UK model.

As negotiations on the EU’s new electricity market enter their crucial trialogue phase, the bloc faces a litmus test for the credibility of its climate ambition. With only two trialogues left, the fate of coal subsidies is still not sealed while COP24 is approaching, writes Joanna Flisowska.

Preliminary estimates published today in the European Environment Agency (EEA)’s annual ‘trends and projections’ assessmentsshow a 0.6% emissions increase in 2017 from 2016. IPCC scientists have made a call for bold and faster climate action to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and the EU must wake up now.

In response to the landmark IPCC report on global warming of 1.5°C published last week, 28 EU Heads of State and Government have called upon all countries of the world to commit, at the upcoming COP24 climate summit in Poland, to review the levels of ambition of their Paris Agreement pledges by 2020.

The EU now needs to translate this statement into an action plan on how and when its Member States will agree on a new 2030 target, in line

Ahead of the trilogue meeting on the Electricity Market Regulation on 18 October 2018, 31 networks and organisations representing citizens from across Europe urge EU ministers to ensure that capacity mechanisms remain a last resort solution and that they no longer subsidise the burning of fossil fuels, coal in particular.

Despite their unprofitability and their harmful impacts on our climate, environment and health, coal power plants still receive massive public subsidies. This is why more than 115,000 Europeans have signed the petition “Let’s move beyond coal!” to call on EU leaders to stop pouring taxpayers’ money into coal through so-called capacity mechanisms.

15 EU environment ministers called today for increasing the EU’s climate target to limit warming to 1.5°C. The other ministers did not support such a commitment, turning their backs on the landmark IPCC report published yesterday.

In a draft long-term EU climate strategy leaked by the media today, the European Commission proposes three options for the EU’s long-term target: 80% emission reductions by 2050, reaching net zero emissions by 2070 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

None of these targets reflect the urgency of action to keep temperature rise to 1.5°C enshrined

One day ahead of the EU Environment Ministers meeting expected to adopt the EU’s position for the upcoming UN Climate Summit COP24, the world’s leading body of climate scientists gave strong scientific evidence for the need to keep temperature rise to 1.5°C. The new IPCC report, ordered and endorsed by all world’s governments, showed that many of the dire consequences of future warming can be avoided by respecting this limit. It also confirmed that it is still possible,

CAN Europe members agreed by consensus to regard the Paris Agreement's goal to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C as the only acceptable goal for all policy making and planning aimed at averting dangerous climate change.

A unique coalition of businesses, associations, investor groups, local and regional authorities, and civil society organisations have called upon EU Environment Ministers to step up Europe's climate commitments.

CAN Europe, has applied to the European General Court to intervene in the People’s Climate Case – a case in which families and youth have challenged the EU in order to protect their fundamental rights from  the insufficiency of the EU’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target. Through this intervention, CAN Europe aims to increase the pressure on the EU to live up to its Paris Agreement responsibilities.

Polish utility Enea gave today the green light to build the new coal power plant ‘Ostrołęka C’, despite the unprofitability of the project and protests of environmental groups. Poland plans to use capacity mechanisms to make up for the projected economic loss, a stunning example of why reformed EU capacity mechanisms must stop benefiting dirty and costly forms of energy.