Brussels, June 15 (BNA) Germany, Denmark, Slovenia and seven other European Union countries warned, on Wednesday, against attempts to weaken the bloc’s policies on climate change, which they said are pushing negotiators towards deals that could frustrate the region’s green goals.
In a joint statement, the countries said such efforts are taking place between EU countries and the European Parliament, without naming specific countries or MPs.
“We look with increasing concern to the various calls for moderating ambition across dossiers…and concessions made in the context of finding compromises,” the Denmark-led statement signed by Austria, Spain and Finland said. Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Sweden.
“Looking at these changes in isolation, they may seem justified or have limited impact, but adding them all risks losing the mark by 2030 and putting us on an impossible path beyond,” she said, according to Reuters.
With negotiations taking place against a backdrop of rising energy costs, inflation and Europe’s rush to buy non-Russian fossil fuels, the concerns reflect the difficulty the European Union is facing in implementing economy-transforming CO2 cuts among its 27 member states.
Countries urged policy makers not to let “short-term impulses” undermine their resolve to combat climate change.
The EU’s 10 laws are designed to cut net mass emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. They include a ban in 2035 on sales of new fossil-fuel cars and a modernization of Europe’s carbon market. Some have faced setbacks recently.
Parliament failed last week to agree on its position on the carbon market, after lawmakers disagreed over how ambitious it should be.
Draft documents show that EU countries may delay the launch of a new carbon market and allow the EU’s “Modernization Fund” to continue financing gas projects, despite Brussels’ proposal to halt funding for fossil fuels.
Failure to meet the 2030 target could result in Europe striving to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 – global scientists say will avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Both EU countries and parliament plan to agree their stance on climate policies this month, before negotiating together to agree on final laws.
FKN