The European Union proposed cutting the region’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent in 2030, accelerating its efforts to fight climate change.
The European Commission’s strategy to reduce pollution, curb rising energy costs and overhaul renewable-energy policies in the next decade would require an average annual investment of 38 billion euros ($52 billion) in the 28-nation bloc, the region’s executive arm said today in a statement. The current goal is to cut emissions by 20 percent in 2020 from 1990 levels, a pace that would lead the EU to a 32 percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030.
The proposed design of future policies pits nations including Germany and the U.K., who are seeking stronger efforts to protect the atmosphere, against Poland and its allies, which rely mainly on fossil fuels to keep their economy humming. It also highlights the divide between energy intensive companies, whose gas and power costs are more than double their U.S. and Asian competitors, and green lobbies such as Greenpeace seeking deeper emission cuts.
“The 40 percent greenhouse-gas target is probably the maximum of what can be achievable if you want to unite all these forces,” EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in an interview in Brussels. “This is the common denominator that we’ve been looking for for years.”
The strategy is the start of a debate among member states, which may lead to a draft law in early 2015. It also includes an EU-wide target to boost the share of renewables in energy consumption to 27 percent by 2030 and may include a pledge to boost energy efficiency later this year, the commission said.