Ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality 2022/C 243/04 - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 243/35

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be urgently reduced, in particular to decrease sea level rise and the likelihood of extreme weather events that already affect every region across the globe (1) and to reduce the economic and social costs associated with the effects of global warming (2). The Union and its Member States are Parties to the Paris Agreement adopted on 15 December 2015 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (‘the Paris Agreement’) (3), which binds its Parties to holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Climate change and environmental degradation pose severe threats that require urgent action, as reaffirmed most recently by the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the Physical Science Basis. Human suffering and economic losses stemming from more frequent climate-related extreme events, such as floods, heatwaves, droughts and forest fires, are becoming more common. In the Union, those losses already average over EUR 12 billion per year (4).

Those losses could reach an additional EUR 175 billion, which is 1.38 % of Union GDP, per year if global warming reaches 3°C above pre-industrial levels, as opposed to EUR 65 billion for 2°C and EUR 36 billion per year for 1.5°C. This would disproportionately harm certain groups, notably people already in vulnerable situations and regions already facing challenges.

The communication from the Commission of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’ (the ‘European Green Deal’) sets out the strategy for the Union to become the first climate-neutral continent and transform the Union into a sustainable, fairer and more prosperous society that respects the planetary boundaries. The need for a fair transition is an integral part of the European Green Deal, which underlined that no person and no place should be left behind. The European Climate Law (5) sets out a binding Union-wide objective of climate neutrality by 2050 and a binding intermediate target of a net domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55 % by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The 8th Environment Action Programme to 2030 (6) aims to accelerate the green transition to a climate-neutral, sustainable, non-toxic, resource-efficient, renewable energy-based, resilient and competitive circular economy in a just, equitable and inclusive way, and to protect, restore and improve the state of the environment.

In light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the communication from the Commission of 18 May 2022 entitled ‘REPowerEU Plan’ (the ‘REPowerEU Plan’), in line with the Versailles Declaration of 10 and 11 March 2022, sets out measures to phase out the Union’s dependence on fossil fuels from Russia by diversifying gas supplies and accelerating the reduction of the dependence on fossil fuels, including through rolling out solar, wind and heat pumps, decarbonising industry, and enabling faster permitting of renewable energy projects.

The transformation to a climate neutral economy and society requires comprehensive policy action and substantial investment across many areas, such as climate action, energy, transport, environment, industry, research and...