Europe unlikely to meet 2050 climate goal, study finds
Belchatow Power Station, Europe's largest coal-fired plant. Photo: Reuters
The European Union will fail to meet an ambitious goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 unless it takes more aggressive measures to limit the use of fossil fuels and adopts new environmental policies, according to a new report.
Although European countries are on track to meet, and even surpass, the goal of reducing 1990-level greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, existing policies are not robust enough to ensure that the 2050 targets are met, the European Environment Agency report said. Those targets, scientists have said, are critical to forestalling the most catastrophic effects of climate change, which are linked to carbon emissions caused by human activity.
"The level of ambition of environmental policies currently in place to reduce environmental pressures may not enable Europe to achieve long-term environmental goals, such as the 2050 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95 per cent," the report said.
The report also noted that transportation continues to account for a quarter of all carbon emissions within the EU, and reducing those by 60 per cent by 2050 will require "significant additional measures."
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The report, which will formally be released on Tuesday, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is produced every five years to assess how the Union is progressing toward its environmental goals and to inform European policy. It will be presented to the European Commission and debated in the European Parliament later this month.
The findings are significant because Europeans have taken a lead role in seeking to avert the worst effects of climate change, in some cases putting aside their own economic prospects and political pressures to enact policies that could also serve as models for other countries and regions. The EU's failure to achieve its goals could discourage efforts by more reluctant nations, like China and India, and could loom large later this year as nations gather in Paris to discuss a global climate treaty.
Hans Bruyninckx, the executive director of the European Environment Agency, characterised the report as an alarming call that provides the 28 EU member states with a fresh opportunity to set a global example.
"Although we have colored the outlook red, it doesn't have to be red," Bruyninckx said. He named increased energy efficiency, ecological innovation and improvements to transportation systems as potential areas in which Europeans could adjust their policies to meet their long-term goals.
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Europe unlikely to meet 2050 climate goal, study finds