This section Climate Change will explain you climate change and climate targets until 2030-2040-2050. You will be also introduced to European Climate Law and broader European legislative framework on the topic.
Climate change is:
- “a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels”. (Oxford Languages Dictionary)
- “refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns”. (UN, Climate Actions)
- “a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates”. (NASA)
- Contemporary climate change (i.e. the observed changes in Earth’s atmosphere since the mid-20th century) refers to the anthropogenically-altered (human-caused) shifts in recent global climate patterns.
- Human activity causes current rapid warming of the Earth’s climate. If left unchecked (and current responses are doing little to halt it), it poses an unprecedented threat to human civilisation and the ecosystems on this planet.
- Climate change facts you can’t afford to ignore:
| The Earth just keeps getting hotter Plastic pollution is getting worse GHG levels are higher than ever | Extreme weather is getting more extreme Sea ice is vanishing Record-breaking downpours | Biodiversity loss is at an all-time high The climate refugee crisis is worsening Our oceans are dying |
Global warming (global rise in temperature) is disruptive:
| • The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet (reducing critical ice habitat, disrupting the flow of the jet stream, creating more unpredictable weather patterns around the globe). • Precipitation is becoming more extreme as the planet heats (flash floods, more destructive hurricanes, stronger snow storms) • Coral reefs are now a highly endangered ecosystem. When corals face environmental stress, such as high heat, they expel their colorful algae and turn a ghostly white, (coral bleaching effect) In this weakened state, they more easily die. | • Trees are increasingly dying from drought, and this mass mortality is reshaping forest ecosystems. • Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are making wildfires more common and more widespread. • Hurricanes are growing more destructive and dumping more rain, an effect that will result in more damage. Some scientists say we even need to be preparing for Cat 6 storms. (the current ranking system ends at Cat 5.) |
Read here: Global-warming-effects
Watch this video: ClimateChange_Causes&Effects
European Climate Law
- Aims to ensure that all EU policies contribute to this goal and that all sectors of the economy and society play their part.
Objectives
- Set the long-term direction of travel for meeting the 2050 climate neutrality objective through all policies, in a socially fair and cost-efficient manner;
- Set an ambitious EU 2030 target, placing Europe on a responsible path to climate neutrality;
- Create a system for monitoring progress and take further action if needed;
- Provide predictability for investors and other economic actors;
- Ensure that the transition to climate neutrality is irreversible.
- The EU institutions and the Member States are bound to take the necessary measures at EU and national level to meet the targets, considering the importance of promoting fairness and solidarity among Member States.
- Read here: European Climate Law (source 1) ; European Climate Law (source 2)
EU Climate Targets until 2030-2040-2050
- In 2023, the EU adopted a set of Commission proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
- In 2025, the European Commission proposed as target reducing the EU’s net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% by 2040, relative to 1990.
- The EU aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal, and is a legally binding target thanks to the European Climate Law.
Read here: https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/climate-strategies-targets_en
EU legislative framework on Climate Change
European Climate Law (2021) + the following:
- European Green Deal (2019): aims to cut emissions by at least 50% by 2030, rising towards 55%, while legally binding the 2050 neutrality goal through the European Climate Law.
- Fit for 55: a set of laws aiming to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
- EU Adaptation Strategy (2021): aims at helping the EU to become climate-resilient.
- 𝐶𝑂2 emissions from transport (2019): new rules and stricter emission limits for cars and vans .
- EU Emissions Trading System – EU ETS (2018): sets a cap on how much 𝐶𝑂2 heavy industry and power stations can emit.
- Effort Sharing Regulation (2018): sets binding targets for annual GHG emission reductions from sectors falling outside the scope of the EU emissions trading system are regulated.
- Land Use and Forestry (2018): regulations to improve the protection & management of land & forests.
- Clean Energy (2020): sets strategies for decarbonisation of the energy sector.
- Read here: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/climate-change/eu-climate-action/ ; https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-competences-field-climate-action_en
