European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans has come to Cop27 with a strong message that the European Union is to increase its climate commitments, adding “don’t let anybody tell you, here or outside, that the EU is backtracking”.
On arrival at Sharm El Sheik, Mr Timmerans confirmed the EU will update its climate commitment as it will be able to exceed its original plan to cut emissions by 55 per cent by 2030. The 27-nation bloc will now commit to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 57 per cent from 1990 levels, based on a revised national determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.
The increased target will have implications for all member states as they will in turn be required to step up their ambitions in line with the EU position. This will be particularly challenging for Ireland, as its emissions continue to rise and it will be subject to EU legislation on implementing more ambitious cuts.
The Government’s current plan is to cut emissions by 51 per cent based on 2018 levels, which is on a par with the old 55 per cent EU target.
The announcement by the world’s third biggest carbon polluter – after China and the United States – attempts to convince others the EU is sticking to its commitments to fight climate change, even as it battles an energy crisis and has raised hopes of a strong reference to the critical 1.5-degree target in Cop27′s cover decision.
“The EU stands ready to update our NDC,” Mr Timmermans added, referring to the bloc’s nationally determined contribution - a target to reduce emissions in line with the Paris agreement to curb global warming.
EU countries and lawmakers are negotiating legislation to deliver those goals, which he said should be finished by the end of the year.
Ahead of Cop27, the EU rushed through deals on three of the laws, including a 2035 ban on selling new fossil fuel cars. If implemented, those policies would cut EU countries’ net emissions by 57 per cent, rather than 55 per cent, Mr Timmermans said.
Dash for gas
The invasion of Ukraine has led to “a dash for gas” in Europe and prompted some countries to burn more coal, as they seek to replace energy supplies from Russia.
Higher use of coal in the EU to replace Russian gas should only last three years, Mr Timmermans said.
“Yes, we are now burning more coal than we had intended and yes, we’re trying to find LNG (liquefied natural gas) wherever we can find it. But that’s only for, let’s say, three years and then we will seriously have changed our energy mix,” he said.
While he was not telling African countries not to invest in fossil fuels, he was warning them that doing so for coal risks them having stranded assets.
Europe’s position on fossil fuels was, however, strongly criticised by Joab Okanda of Christian Aid: “Africa has 39 per cent of the world’s renewable energy potential, more than any other continent. Nowhere has suffered more from the impact of burning fossil fuels so it is perfectly placed to show the world a different path to develop, freed from the shackles of a dirty energy system that has wrecked our climate.
“Fossil fuel companies are showing their greed and plan to exploit fossil fuels in 48 out of 55 African countries. If all this fossil fuel is successfully burned then it will push us past the Paris Agreement goals and spell misery for African people already on the front lines of this crisis,” he added.
What is so galling, Mr Okanda said, was 89 per cent of the LNG infrastructure being built in Africa “is to be exported to Europe to bail them out of their addiction to Russian gas. We cannot be Europe’s gas station. Otherwise we will crash the climate”.
Lula’s law enforcement
Meanwhile, the newly elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, arrived on Tuesday with a strong message that “Brazil is back” as a leader confronting climate change. He defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who presided over mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to hold the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil.
Mr Lula has promised to ramp up environmental law enforcement and create green jobs that do not come at the expense of the rainforest. His team have already secured a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Colombia’s environment minister Susana Muhamad said his election would allow renewed regional co-operation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.
“There is a new political context in Latin America,” Ms Muhamad said. “We have to work on a communal policy in the Amazon.”
