EU gears up to toughen climate goals

Consultation opens on proposal for further cuts in emissions by 2030

Even as the European Union battles the novel coronavirus pandemic, the bloc plans to toughen its proposed Green Deal environmental initiative with deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The European Commission on Tuesday launched a public consultation on the plan to cut emissions by as much as 55 percent from 1990 levels by the end of the decade.

The European Green Deal, unveiled on Dec 11 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, aims to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent in the world by 2050. The EU has emphasized that the Green Deal is a growth strategy and one of the central pillars for European economic recovery.

"While the commission's immediate political focus is on the task of combating the coronavirus crisis, we're continuing our preparatory work on the long-term policy priorities such as European Green Deal," Vivian Loonela, the European Commission's spokeswoman for the Green Deal, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Following pressure from some groups over the past months, the EU's executive put forward the new proposal to increase the bloc's 2030 emission reduction target from the current 40 percent to either 50 percent or 55 percent compared with the 1990 levels.

Loonela said the commission is encouraging all stakeholders to respond to the 12-week public consultation, which ends on June 23, so that EU can put forward "a thoroughly impact assessed and comprehensive plan to increase the European Union's climate ambitions". Once agreed, the commission will propose to include the new target in the recently tabled European Climate Law.

Revising the current 2030 target upward will put the EU on a more gradual pathway to climate neutrality by 2050. It will also help to ensure first-mover benefits for European industry, avoid stranded assets and strengthen the EU's global leadership role in international climate negotiations.

The commission published a road map on March 18 as part of its assessment on the proposal to raise the EU's 2030 target for reductions to greenhouse gas emissions.

There has been deep concern that the economic damage inflicted by the novel coronavirus will affect the Green Deal.

The Polish government has warned that the fallout from the outbreak will make climate targets tougher to achieve, while the Czech Republic has called on Brussels to drop its Green Deal, according to Reuters.

But Piotr Arak, head of the Polish Economic Institute, said that Poland is unlikely to ultimately block the Green Deal, but needs more money from Brussels to help it in its energy transition away from coal.

A group of 37 members of the European Parliament asked the three main EU institutions on Monday to postpone the Green Deal legislation and instead focus on agreeing on the bloc's next multiyear budget to help member states recover, Reuters reported.

But green groups in the European Parlia

ment had urged the EU to come up with a new 2030 climate goal by June, to have enough time for national governments and the Parliament to agree on a target before COP26, the UN climate conference scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland.

The European region has been badly hit by COVID-19. Most EU states have closed their borders to prevent the spread of the virus. And the European Commission this week called on them to ensure the movement of essential workers who need to cross national borders, especially those whose jobs are related to fighting the pandemic.