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Three targets needed for EU climate policy

27 Feb 2014 - 13:48

On March 20-21, the European Council's spring meeting will take place. EU government leaders will discuss Europe's energy and climate targets for 2030. The stakes are high. Clingendael is hosting an online debate on the significance of EU climate policy for the Netherlands. Today, guest blog #1 by Ties Mouwen, Dutch UN youth representative for sustainable development.

 

Meeting our 2050 commitments requires three targets for the EU´s 2030 policy framework on climate and energy

According to its own treaties, the EU is to promote energy efficiency and energy savings and the development of new and renewable forms of energy. Nonetheless, the European Commission only proposed an emission reduction target of 40% in the run up to the European Summit of the 21st of March, which will discuss the EU’s climate and energy objectives for 2030. In line with the European Parliament I believe a preference should be given to three targets, additionally including one on renewable energy and one on energy efficiency, and not to centre the policy solely on an emission reduction goal.

In recent years, the EU was confronted with problems in the functioning of its key instrument, the emission trading system (ETS). Criticism focuses on, among others, cheap credits from compensation?? projects in developing countries. It is said that between one-third and two-third of carbon credits bought into the ETS does not represent a real carbon reduction. Critical comments are also directed towards the free emission permits handed out during the first two phases of the ETS (2005-2007, 2008-2012) and towards the interaction of the ETS with the renewables target. The installation of renewable sources is said to make allowances available which are then sold on to other users who would now emit more than would otherwise have been the case. The latter criticism on the ETS has also been deployed as an argument against having three targets. 

The remarks above and others not mentioned here, concerning the ETS, hold true and valuable insights which should be incorporated into the new policy framework which will be discussed on the 21st of March. However, even if the renewables target is involved to a certain extent with suboptimal performance of the ETS, there are solutions to this and it should not be used as excuse to ignore the strong arguments in favour of still including a renewable target and an energy efficiency target.

Three targets would contribute to the EU economy. According to a study conducted for the European Commission, both renewable energy (3 million jobs by 2020) and energy efficiency (2 million jobs by 2020) possess a huge job creation potential. Both renewable energy and energy efficiency would contribute to decreasing the dependency on and imports of fossil fuels, thereby reducing vulnerability to world energy price fluctuation and improving energy security. And, both renewable energy and energy efficiency targets will spur investment into innovative technologies.

Additionally, we would also be missing out on opportunities in terms of emission reductions if we do not agree on the renewable energy and efficiency target. For instance, the energy efficiency potential in sectors not covered by the EU emissions trading scheme, representing 60% of total greenhouse gas emission, is still largely untapped and is unlikely to be exploited in case no energy efficiency target is adopted. Not making use of this potential would increase the costs of our decarbonisation efforts.

Perhaps most important is that we need to further develop our portfolio of renewable energy technologies in order to meet our commitments for 2050. This is the real challenge, and of particular relevance to the current youth and future generations. At this point in time we should make the choice not to get locked into a fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. The policy up to 2030 is not only about reducing carbon emissions until then,  but also about facilitating the much more severe cuts in carbon emissions required after 2030. This is why three targets should be decided upon on the 21st of March.  Only then can we assure a safe future for ourselves, our children and all those who come after us.

 

Ties Mouwen is the Dutch UN youth representative for sustainable development.

 

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Interested in European sustainability policy? Clingendael is organizing the following events:

On March 7, Dutch politicians and representatives from business and society will debate on the EU's climate policy: The EU as climate saviour?

On April 24, Clingendael and partners will organize a real European election debate. Sustainability is one the topics of the debate.