EU, Von der Leyen: "the priorities are climate, wages and migrants"
Climate, companies in von der Leyen: reduce emissions by 2030
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21 September 2020 In 2019, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU decreased by 4% compared to 2018, and by 24% on 1990 (26% if the UK is included).
The preliminary data on 2019 emissions from the European Environment Agency (Aea) say so.
If confirmed, it would be the most significant decrease in 10 years, and the EU target of 20% emissions reduction by 2020 would already be well exceeded.
The downward trend, the Agency writes in a note, reflects the strong and constant growth of renewable energy in Europe and the abandonment of coal, motivated in particular by the increase in the prices of carbon emissions in the EU-ETS market. The decline, the note emphasizes, occurred in a period of economic growth and "shows that it is clearly possible to achieve more ambitious reduction targets by 2030, paving the way for EU climate neutrality by 2050".
In another paper published today, the AEA confirms that the EU is achieving its goals of gradually eliminating substances that deplete the ozone layer. In 2019, for the seventh consecutive year, the EU destroyed or exported more ozone-depleting substances than it produced or imported.