Debate: EU climate target
Date: TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2024
Speaker: Wopke Hoekstra
Language: EN

Today is another step in the European Union’s journey towards climate neutrality. We already have our fixed targets of 55 % of emission cuts by 2030, as everyone is aware. And now, we are launching a dialogue – and let me stress that word, ‘a dialogue’ – on the pathway towards 2040. Before we get started, Madam Chair, it is important to recall what today’s step is and what it is not. What we are proposing, what the Commission is proposing, is a solid analysis of what a good pathway towards 2040 could look like. Today is in fact the start of that dialogue with citizens, with businesses, with trade unions, with Members of Parliament here, but also at a national and at a local level. And that is what the Commission is doing. The decision to come up with a legislative proposal will be for the next Commission. Based on the best available science and a detailed impact assessment – as I’m sure you have seen – we are recommending that the 2040 target should be a 90 % cut in emissions. So why are we making this recommendation now? Well, at the risk of repeating myself, because the case for climate action is beyond doubt and requires planning in the here and now. We’ve just lived through the hottest summer on record, and we’ve seen for ourselves the devastation that climate change brings and sadly, evermore in human lives. And as weather patterns become more unpredictable, become more extreme, this will also come with an increasing economic cost. Therefore, it is important to note that inaction would lead to far larger and growing costs in the coming decades. Ladies and gentlemen, there is another reason to put this forward in the here and now. We will keep on offering to our industry, businesses and financial institutions the thing they always ask for: clarity and predictability for their investments. But it is also absolutely essential – it is absolutely essential – that we need to do more to enable them and citizens to get to the destination. And going forward, it is therefore of tremendous importance that we stand firmly on two legs. One clearly is the leg of climate action and that we have to stay the course. And the other, the leg to which we need to bridge, to which we need to marry, is a strong and resilient economy with a bright future for all our businesses, large and small, and a transition that is truly just. We cannot have one without the other. I am absolutely convinced we do need to make sure that we have the two, because the vast majority of our citizens see the effects of climate change, do want to have us take action, but are also worried about what that implies for their livelihood. So let’s make sure we work on the two. Ladies and gentlemen, if we manage to pull this off, if we manage to do this, we will also increase our energy independence and strengthen our EU’s open strategic autonomy. And we know how important that is. Ladies and gentlemen, today’s communication lays some further foundations for future work to ramp up affordable, clean energy, to make our rules as easy as possible to navigate and to have a smart European approach to de-risk private investments in the key technologies of the future. And we need to have comprehensive investment and a comprehensive investment agenda to attract private capital. As a matter of fact, we not only need more public, but certainly also much more private capital for this endeavour. Therefore, we will propose a concrete roadmap to boost and finance technologies across Europe. Having said that, whatever we agree and whatever we discuss here on our own continent, in this Parliament, the scale of the challenge we are facing remains planetary. The EU’s emissions, at 7 % of the global total, are only one piece of the puzzle. But as global leaders in climate action, we cannot call on other countries to do more to accelerate their transitions and not continue ourselves. We’ll therefore also establish a dedicated Commission taskforce on carbon market diplomacy. We will offer our expertise to other countries that wish to create their own version of what I view as one of the most successful things we have done in the domain of climate action: an emissions trading system. And this is one example of where, with other partners, we can race to the top both from a climate action perspective and from the perspective of a global level playing field for sustainable businesses to flourish. Ladies and gentlemen, let me wrap up. Tackling the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. And 2040 seems far away, but the sooner we start planning, the sooner we start working towards it, the better equipped we will be to continue and ultimately finish this journey. So we’re starting the political discussions in this esteemed Chamber, and we will continue to do so outside of this room with all stakeholders that are relevant to this endeavour, including, of course, the various businesses and all of our citizens. And we do that to make sure that we have a balanced approach and everyone at our continent can be seen and can meet the finish line.