EU vows to be ‘climate neutral’ by 2050 in new strategy

The European Commission (EC) has adopted what it calls a strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive – and climate neutral – economy by 2050.

The strategy: A Clean Planet for All, shows how the EU can lead the way to climate neutrality through empowering its citizens, investing in solutions and aligning action in key areas such as industrial policy, finance and research. 
 

A Eurobarometer public opinion poll published in November showed that EU residents feel there is an urgent need to undertake climate change mitigation measures. More than 27,000 people across all 28 of the bloc’s member states responded to the survey, with 93% stating that they believe climate change is caused by human activity. 

Some 85% of respondents agreed that fighting climate change and using energy more efficiently would create jobs and economic growth in Europe. The EC’s strategy reports that weather-related disasters caused a record €283bn in damages last year and could impact around two-thirds of the European population by 2100, compared to 5% today. 

While the document outlines the scale of the climate problem, it doesn’t set specific objectives for solving it. A statement from the EC said that the purpose of the strategy was not to set targets, but to ‘create a vision and sense of direction, plan for it, and inspire as well as enable stakeholders, researchers, entrepreneurs and citizens alike to develop new and innovative industries, businesses and associated jobs.’

However, Europe’s transport sector will have to decarbonise rapidly if the bloc is to achieve climate neutrality by the middle of this century. Sustainable transport NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) has found that road freight, aviation, shipping and cars accounted for 27% of Europe’s total greenhouse gas emissions last year. This makes transport the largest sector contributor to the EU’s emissions. 

‘The goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050,’ says European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc. ‘This requires a system approach with low and zero emission vehicles, strong increase in rail network capacity, and a much more efficient organisation of the transport system, based on digitalisation; incentives for behavioural changes; alternative fuels and smart infrastructure; and global commitments.’

T&E released its own plan for the decarbonisation of European transport just days before the EC launched its strategy. The NGO’s ‘synthesis report’ is based on a series of studies that analysed pathways to achieving zero emission transport across land, sea and sky. 

The investigation revealed that limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires EU transport to be zero emissions by 2050 at the very latest. To achieve this, T&E says Europe must sell its last internal combustion engine vehicle by the early 2030s and suggests that battery-electric and hydrogen cars are the best placed to take over. Meanwhile, electric trucks – both battery and catenary – are the most economical way to cut road freight emissions.  

When it comes to shipping, T&E believes that powering vessels with batteries, hydrogen or ammonia will decarbonise the fleet more efficiently than other solutions. It also says that radically cleaner air travel will be made possible through carbon pricing and electrofuels. 

Ultimately, T&E stresses the importance of swift regulation to support the development and rollout of new transport technologies: ‘Decarbonising transport is possible, but each single assumption that went into our modelling would require new policies to realise them,’ the report says. ‘In most instances this will take the form of new laws and regulations, very often at European level. The more we delay those measures, the harder it gets to achieve a decarbonised transport sector by 2050.’