Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) EU climate ministers agreed on more ambitious environmental protection goals on Monday.
They stressed the importance of the EU lowering its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the annual UN Climate Change Conference, according to Reuters reporting.
The ministers announced plans to intensify the green push “as soon as possible,” but noted that negotiations on new climate laws have to be wrapped up before the EU can up its climate targets.
Bloc members agree to complete the dozen or so negotiations by the end of the year, including a planned ban on the sale of new automobiles with internal combustion engines by 2035 and changes to the carbon market system.
According to EU officials, the bloc is preparing to wrap up the talks before the UN conference slated for 7 November.
More ambitious goals
The EU is currently planning to lower its greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, with officials looking to push the figure higher. The EU has been intensifying its green push in recent months, adding more ambitious targets to the package of policies adopted in July 2021.
In May, the European Commission upped the bloc’s targets for increasing the share of energy produced from renewable sources in an attempt to lower some EU member states’ reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports.
EU’s ministers also agreed to discuss proposed reparations to underdeveloped countries for the damage caused by floods and other natural disasters as the bloc and the US have come under pressure to pay.
Proponents of the idea say that the UN has to set up a fund to pay countries struck by natural disasters, like the floods that hit Pakistan in the monsoon season this year, killing more than 1,000 people. The EU and the US have been dismissing such demands thus far.
The EU was the third-largest emitter of CO2 in 2020, accounting for 7.29% of global emissions. The US was second with 12.61% and China topped the list with 32.48%.
This year’s UN Climate Change Conference is an informal deadline for attending countries to prepare plans for speeding up the green push.
