Brussels steps up pressure on the development of the Green Deal
At an extraordinary meeting of the EU Environment Council in Brussels on Thursday, Environment Ministers discussed an amendment to the EU's climate regulation, which proposes a target for 2040 of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990 levels.
Based on the EU's established 2030 targets of 55% GHG reductions and climate neutrality, and the EU's 2040 climate target proposal, the meeting endorsed the EU's statement of intent for nationally binding action, with an indicative 2035 GHG reduction target in line with the Paris Agreement, which the EU plans to present by this year. The EU is planning to adopt the Paris Agreement by the end of the year, with a view to its adoption by the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November this year.
„Lithuania can support these targets with clearly defined implementation conditions and flexibility measures. We also want to take into account the specificities of each country and the potential of individual sectors to reduce GHGs – we need to be guided by the principle of solidarity and to share the responsibility among Member States evenly. It is important to secure the necessary resources and instruments: EU funding, innovative clean technologies, and the right transformation," said Aira Paliukėnaitė, Deputy Minister for the Environment, who attended the meeting. The European Commission's proposal to reduce GHG emissions by 90% by 2040 was presented by the European Commission's Director-General of the European Commission, Mr. On 2 July 2011, the European Commission announced its proposal to set the EU's target of 2020 by 2020. At the same time, the Regulation sets out flexibility measures and 18 enabling conditions to ensure that this target is achieved in a cost-effective and socially equitable way.
The proposal focuses on EU competitiveness, simplified regulation and technological neutrality. Three flexibility measures will provide greater flexibility for Member States to reduce emissions in different sectors, the possibility to use long-term industrial carbon sinks in the EU ETS, and the possibility to use international emission reduction credits from 2036 onwards to offset targets.
