Carbon Neutrality in 2050: "a missed opportunity" for the EU

A footnote. If the objective of climate neutrality is reflected in the conclusions of the European summit held on 20 and 21 June in Brussels, the target date of 2050 has been relegated to the margin of the document to specify that a majority many countries supported this deadline. A majority, not unanimity. However, the 28 agreement was required for the 2050 carbon neutrality to be posited as an EU commitment.

"This is a missed opportunity and a failure to respond to the pressure on the climate emergency carried by young people and relayed by the push of the Greens in the European elections," said Cecile Marchand, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, association for the protection of man and the environment, member of the European network "Beyond Coal".

The goal of carbon neutrality in 2050 is nevertheless crucial to achieve another objective written in black and white in the Paris agreement (and in which the EU played a leading role): to limit the rise in global temperature to "well below 2 ° C" by 2100. Carbon neutrality, or zero net emissions, is defined as the balance between greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and anthropogenic removals by sinks such as forests, grasslands, agricultural soils, but also carbon capture and storage by industrial processes.

"Dramatic for climate diplomacy"

"Four countries have failed the registration of the 2050 goal: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia," said Cécile Marchand, who notes that this outcome was however "fairly predictable".

With coal as the main source of energy, Poland led the sling. "We do not want to lead to a situation where the Polish economy would suffer from global climate efforts," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters on his return from Brussels. In addition, it has again made a condition for an agreement on the date of 2050 a "clear compensatory package" on the part of the EU.

A line similar to that of the Hungarian government who said Friday that the goal of carbon neutrality in 2050 "would impose huge burdens on the Hungarian industry" and could increase "by 30 or 40%" the electricity bill Hungarian families.

For months, the increase in European funding in Central Europe in exchange for a vote in favor of the 2050 target has been the subject of negotiations but these have not been successful. "There is a reluctance to allocate funds while doubts exist concerning the real will of the Polish government (conservative and nationalist), for example, to respect its commitments", analyzes Cécile Marchand.

No consensus on the carbon neutrality of the EU in 2050.
✅24 countries say yes
❌4 countries are against it ... #climateemergency
Our reaction: https://t.co/stX0gLmeGC pic.twitter.com/J6waUBR0RJ

"Dramatic for climate diplomacy", "a momentum reduced to a footnote": from Greenpeace to WWF, all pro-environment NGOs lamented Friday the failure of the 28 on the 2050 goal. as much more regrettable according to Cécile Marchand that if an agreement on the 2050 objective would have sent "a positive signal", it would not have settled the problem of global warming. "Long-term goals like 2050 can also be a way of postponing action," she says. In fact, at the end of 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in a report that eleven years remain to reverse the trend.

Most environmental NGOs are calling for short-term actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 57% by 2030 (not counting the absorption by the natural carbon sinks of the oceans and rivers). forests). United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has himself called on the European Union, the world's third largest polluter, to aim for a 55% reduction.

"Our fight for climate is moving forward: 24 Member States now share the goal of carbon neutrality for 2050. Just three months ago, we were only a few," congratulated Emmanuel Macron Friday on Twitter.

Our fight for climate is moving forward: 24 member states now share the goal of carbon neutrality for 2050. Only three months ago we were only a few. Europe must be at the forefront to carry this ambition.

But for Cécile Marchand, the French president is in the "double discourse" if we consider for example the modest ambitions of the energy climate law. "It's complicated to do climate diplomacy when your own country is not up to the task," she says.

Will the EU be able to rectify the situation by the United Nations climate summit in September? While the 28 seek a successor at the head of the European Commission, prospective candidates are not, in any case, according to Cécile Marchand, "known for their knowledge or experience in the field of climate action."