Krišjānis Kariņš: Ambitious EU climate goal would support industry investment, Latvia says

“If we set a very clear and a high target of 55%, it effectively gives certainty to industry that there will be a guaranteed market for solutions and services and products,” Karins told reporters on arrival for an EU summit in Brussels.
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Such investments could include clean transport and renewable energy, he said.

The current changes in the planet's climate are transforming the world. The last two decades included 18 of the warmest years on record, and extreme weather events, such as forest fires, heatwaves and floods, are becoming more frequent both in Europe and elsewhere.

Scientists warn that without urgent action, global warming is likely to exceed 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2060, and could even be as much as 5°C by the end of the century.

Such a rise in the global temperature will have a devastating impact on nature, bringing about irreversible changes to many ecosystems and a consequent loss of biodiversity. Higher temperatures and intensified weather events will also result in huge costs for the EU's economy and hamper countries' ability to produce food.

Climate change is a global challenge that requires a global response. The EU is determined to help raise global ambition and is leading by example.

The EU is one of the signatories to the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

EU countries endorsed the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.

The EU's response to climate change
The EU has set ambitious measures and goals to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. It has done so by defining emissions targets for key sectors of its economy.

The 2020 goals
The EU's first package of climate and energy measures was agreed in 2008 and sets targets for 2020. These are:

reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (compared to 1990)
increasing the share of renewable energy to 20%
making a 20% improvement in energy efficiency
To achieve these goals, the EU has developed, and later reformed, the EU emissions trading system (ETS) which aims to cut down greenhouse gas emissions in particular from energy-intensive industries and power plants. In the buildings, transport and agriculture sectors, national emission targets have been set, as part of the effort sharing regulation.

The EU is already ahead of these targets. By 2018, greenhouse gas emissions had been reduced by 23%, that is three percentage points above the initial 20% target.

Council adopts climate-energy legislative package (press release, 6 April 2009)
Reform of the EU emissions trading scheme (archived page)
The 2030 goals
In 2014, the 2030 climate and energy framework was agreed with an even more ambitious set of targets for the period 2021-2030. By these targets, the EU is committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 1990.

The framework contains policies and goals to make the EU's economy and energy system more competitive, secure and sustainable. It also reformed the ETS, adopted monitoring and reporting rules, and stated the need for national climate and energy plans and long-term strategies.

European Council, 23-24 October 2014
2030 climate and energy framework (archived page)
Recent policy actions
After the targets were agreed, the EU put in place actions and measures which aim to ensure that the targets are met. Here are some of the most recent pieces of legislation.

Circular economy
In May 2019, the EU adopted a ban on single-use plastic items. By this ban, the EU set stricter rules for those types of products and packaging which are among the top ten most frequently found items polluting European beaches. The new rules ban the use of certain throwaway plastic products for which alternatives exist.

Council adopts ban on single-use plastics (press release, 21 May 2019)
In May 2018, the EU decided on new rules for waste management and established legally binding targets for recycling. These targets concern municipal waste, the recycling of packaging materials, as well as landfills.