The “pragmatic and flexible” amendment to the EU Climate Law allows the use of international carbon credits to reach the new target, which critics argue are ineffective, and builds on a legally binding goal to slash emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
It is based on an in-depth impact assessment and advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, according to the Commission, and follows a long engagement with member states and the European Parliament.
This comes after the EU’s latest Eurobarometer survey found that 85% of Europeans believe that climate change is a “serious problem”, and that a similar proportion support the bloc’s net-zero goal.
“As European citizens increasingly feel the impact of climate change, they expect Europe to act,” said president Ursula von der Leyen. “Industry and investors look to us to set a predictable direction of travel.
“Today we show that we stand firmly by our commitment to decarbonise European economy by 2050. The goal is clear, the journey is pragmatic and realistic.”
The proposal includes a “limited role” for international credits starting from 2036, the use of domestic permanent removals – such as storing GHGs underground – in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), and “greater flexibilities” across sectors to help achieve targets in a cost-effective and socially fair way.
However, a study by the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi) last year suggested that various types of carbon credits are “ineffective in delivering their intended mitigation outcomes”, and could have unintended consequences that hinder the net-zero transition and climate finance.
The new target comes while Europe is engulfed by a ‘heat dome’, with health warnings issued across Portugal, Italy, Croatia, France, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Slovenia, and Spain, which recorded temperatures of 46°C earlier this week.
Tiemo Wölken, a German MEP and member of the Social Democratic Party, welcomed the new target, but warned that the allowance for international carbon credits has the potential to open a "Pandora's box of loopholes and uncertainties".
“The risks, both in diverting resources away from EU industry and in the uncertain environmental integrity of such credits, are immense,” he continued. “If we go down this road, it must be ensured that the credits truly represent verifiable, permanent emission removals only.
“Furthermore, the use and accounting of these credits must be tightly safeguarded as well. Past experience clearly shows that the inclusion of such credits in the ETS can be particularly harmful.”
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Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of ISEP’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for ISEP members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
