Europe Says 'No' to 30% Carbon Cuts

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Union has said that it will not be increasing its 2020 target for reduced carbon emissions from 20% to 30%.

European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger dashed the hopes of larger countries like the U.K., France and Germany, which have been pushing to raise the target to 30% by 2020, by claiming that any further increase could harm the European economy. A higher emissions target would also mean stricter regulations and targets for energy and industrial companies.

Last July, Europe's so-called 'Big 3' joined forces to pressure the European Union into raising the target for reducing carbon emissions from 20% to 30%, claiming that not aiming for 30% would put Europe in the "slow lane" for low-carbon investment. For related news, see July 18, 2010, article - Europe's 'Big 3' Want Higher Emissions Target. Reports last year suggested that the global recession would make reaching the 30% target significantly cheaper than originally thought.

"If we go alone to 30%, you will only have a faster process of de-industrialisation in Europe," Oettinger argued. "I think we need industry in Europe, we need industry in the U.K., and industry means CO2 emissions. We are willing to go to 30% if big global partners will follow us, but if not we won't."

Oettinger claimed that pushing the target to 30% by 2020 would result in major European industrial sectors, such as steel, losing companies and jobs to countries with no binding emissions targets.

Last May, the European Commission (EC) expressed the wish to raise Europe's carbon emissions reduction target to 30%, after its own research showed how much cheaper the recession had made achieving that goal. The cost of reaching the 30% target was estimated to be 81 billion euros ($100 billion) per year by 2020, only 11 billion euros ($13.6 billion) higher than the price tag for reaching the 20% target two years ago.

The EC maintained that reaching a 30% reduction target would reduce imports of oil and gas by 40 billion euros ($49.5 billion) per year by 2020. Despite expressing its interest in raising the target to 30%, the EC stopped short of trying to implement the policy, which has divided many of the member states and infuriated many industrial groups. For related news, see May 30, 2010, article - European Commission Wants to Raise Carbon-Emissions Target to 30%.

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