Europe needs to do more to meet emissions targets

Europe needs to do more to develop and promote low carbon technology if it is to meet its COP21 emissions reduction targets. So says a report, Scaling up innovation in Energy Union from Capgemini Consulting and the Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness Initiative (i24c).

The report recognises Europe as a world leader in green innovation and renewables technologies ­– with the region investing over $4.3bn in Research and Development (R&D) – but warns that it could lose its status as a global green leader if it does not continue to strengthen its clean energy strategies and become more competitive in global green energy markets.

At the moment, Europe is home to almost a fifth of climate change innovations and over 1.2mn jobs within or closely related to renewable energy, but the report indicates that it has struggled to implement these low carbon approaches as sufficient regulatory strategies.

The report suggests that Europe should not focus exclusively on the energy sector, but also on other energy related industries – such as transport and agriculture – to encourage cross-border collaboration between sectors and promote competitiveness and economic prosperity within all EU Member States.

The report also states that the continuing dry spell in green investments may be the result of out-dated regulation and a perception among the investment community that green investment projects are too risky – particularly given high upfront costs to kick-start projects.