The European Union has raised its emissions reduction target for 2030 from 40% to 55% to put it on track to meet a goal of completely decarbonizing to net zero by 2050.
After an all-night negotiating session that went on for eight hours, the prime ministers and presidents of the European Union agreed early this morning to increase the EU’s emissions reduction target for 2030 from 40% compared to 1990 to 55%. This, they said, will put the EU on track to meet its target to completely decarbonise to net zero by 2050. Though going into the summit it had been assumed that there was sufficient support for the proposed increase, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki surprised the other leaders last night by threatening to veto the increase unless the EU agreed to give Poland more money to make the energy transition necessary to meet the target. Poland already tried to veto the EU’s 2050 target last year, but it was instead adopted by all EU countries except Poland. In the end, Warsaw quietly accepted the 2050 target months later. By early this morning it was thought this might have to be done again for the 2030 target. But Morawiecki accepted insertion of language into the council conclusions that said the EU will consider gas a green transition fuel, allow countries to choose their own energy mix, and support less developed countries with a ‘just transition fund’.
