5.5.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 184/139 Thursday 21 October 2021
115.
Highlights the need to attract more investment, both public and private, in the research, innovation and deployment of new sustainable technologies, including in labour-intensive industries, in necessary new infrastructure networks and projects contributing to the goals of the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement;
116.
Underlines the importance of ensuring coherence and consistency in incentives to foster innovative technologies to achieve the 2030 and 2050 targets, addressing the deployment of already mature technologies as well as investments in new technologies that need to be developed to reach the Union’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest;
117.
Underlines the fundamental role that digital technologies can play in supporting the EU’s green transition; underlines that the EU’s recovery requires creating a stable regulatory framework and financial incentives also for private players in order to establish and ensure market-driven progress towards research, innovation and the development of sustainable technologies;
118.
Underlines that digitalisation is one of the key factors driving energy system integration as it can enable dynamic and interlinked flows of energy carriers, allow for more diverse markets to be interconnected, and provide the necessary data to match supply and demand; highlights the potential of digital technologies to increase energy efficiency and thus reduce overall GHG emissions; recalls that the Commission estimates that the environmental footprint of ICT accounts for between 5 % and 9 % of global electricity use and more than 2 % of global GHG emissions; stresses that, according to a 2018 study on artificial intelligence by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, data centres and data transmission could represent between 3 % and 4 % of the Union’s total electricity consumption; highlights that the Commission expects a 28 % increase in data centre consumption between 2018 and 2030; underlines that 47 % of digital carbon emissions are due to consumer equipment such as computers, smartphones, tablets and other connected objects; calls therefore for measures to reduce the carbon footprint of the ICT sector by ensuring energy and resource efficiency, and reiterates the goal of making data centres climate neutral and highly energy efficient by no later than 2030, as stated in the digital strategy;
119.
Recalls the importance of R&I’s contribution to achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and the objectives of the European Green Deal; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support research and innovation and an overall increase in EU and national budgets devoted to R&I in sustainable and safe energy technologies and innovation; calls on the Commission to consider further supporting technologies and innovative solutions that will contribute to a climate-proof and integrated energy system, including those where Europe has global leadership and domestic-based value chains; considers it is essential to have key segments of renewable energy value chains within the Union in order to achieve the climate goals and to bring significant economic benefits to Europeans, and calls for adequate measures to support the role of Europe-based content in the renewable energy systems (RES) supply chain and legislation;
Climate change and development
120.
Believes that COP26 presents an opportunity to renew efforts to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs, in particular SDG 13 (Climate Action); considers that the 2030 Agenda must act as a roadmap towards a greener, fairer and more sustainable future;
121.
Stresses the importance of a human rights approach in climate action to ensure that all measures respect and support human rights of all people;
122.
Urges the Parties to the UNFCCC to continue increasing their mitigation and adaptation ambition in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to integrate the human rights dimension in their NDCs and their adaptation communication; calls on the Secretariat of the UNFCCC to develop guidelines on how to integrate human rights protections into NDCs and adaptation communication in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;
123.
Is aware of the mass of evidence that the impacts of climate change cause and exacerbate the scarcity of vital resources such as arable land, damage or ruin livelihood-sustaining ecosystems and increase the incidence and gravity of natural catastrophes, thereby acting as drivers of conflicts, displacement of populations and humanitarian crises;