How ambitious is the EU's 40 per cent emissions target?

clock • 1 min read

The EU's emissions target will require a step change in decarbonisation, according to analysis by PwC's Jonathan Grant and Rob Milnes

The EU has committed to at least a 40 per cent reduction in emissions on 1990 levels by 2030. The target is no surprise, as it is the one the Council agreed last October in the 2030 climate and energy package.

Carbon intensity in the EU has fallen by two per cent each year on average since 2000. But PwC expects economic growth to pick up in the EU, and we forecast GDP will be 62 per cent higher in 2030 than 2000. This rate of GDP growth means that if the EU continues on its current modest decarbonisation path, emissions will be only 16 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.

In this light 40 per cent looks ambitious. The EU will need to nearly double its current rate of decarbonisation to achieve the 40 per cent reduction target by 2030. By 2022 European countries will need to have the same carbon intensity as France today, which is the lowest of the G20 countries, and then cut this by a quarter by 2030.

PwC graph analysing how ambitious is the EUs 40 per cent target

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Grant is director and Rob Milnes is manager of sustainability and climate change at PwC.

This article is part of BusinessGreen's Road to Paris hub, hosted in association with PwC

More on Policy

Biodiversity offsets won't save British wildlife

Biodiversity offsets won't save British wildlife

The government is taking a risky approach to meeting its 2030 nature goals, argues New Economics Foundation's Christian Jaccarini

Christian Jaccarini, New Economics Foundation
clock 27 March 2024 • 5 min read
'Unacceptable': Environment Agency confirms 54 per cent increase in sewage spills last year

'Unacceptable': Environment Agency confirms 54 per cent increase in sewage spills last year

More than four million hours of raw sewage thought to have been discharged into rivers and seas last year

BusinessGreen staff
clock 27 March 2024 • 5 min read
Defra limits land farmers can take out of food production under green incentive scheme

Defra limits land farmers can take out of food production under green incentive scheme

Changes to Sustainable Farming Incentive mean applicants will only be able to put quarter of their land into six specified environmental actions that take land out of food production

Rachael Brown, Farmers Guardian
clock 25 March 2024 • 3 min read