By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union policymakers will on Wednesday outline a second set of proposals to cut emissions across its economy this decade and put the 27-country bloc on track for net zero greenhouse gas output by 2050.
The EU in July became the first of the world’s major emitters to map out a detailed plan to meet its climate targets with legislative proposals including bigger carbon markets and a phase-out of combustion engine car sales.
The EU’s executive Commission will propose a second, smaller set of regulations on Wednesday – this time focussed on buildings, methane emissions and fossil gas.
Taken together, the measures aim to ensure the EU – the world’s third-largest emitter – meets its goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030, from 1990 levels. By 2019, EU emissions were 24% lower than in 1990.
Each proposal will face months of tough negotiations between EU countries and the European Parliament before becoming law, with countries divided over issues including the role of gas in the energy transition and how to support communities that today depend on fossil fuels.
The proposed measures due on Wednesday include a reform of EU gas markets, aimed at integrating low-carbon gases such as hydrogen into the network.
Europe’s fossil gas consumption will need to drop in the coming decades to meet climate goals. But for now, gas provides roughly a quarter of EU energy – meaning countries are exposed to volatile gas prices, which have surged to record highs in recent months.
The Commission is expected on Wednesday to propose a system to allow countries to jointly buy gas to form strategic reserves, which states including Spain and France have said would help them to secure supply.
A leaked draft showed another proposal would force oil and gas operators in the EU to find and fix leaks of methane in their infrastructure. EU emissions-cutting targets include methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but the bloc does not yet have legislation to tackle it.
A third proposal would take aim at buildings, and is expected to require EU countries to renovate millions of their buildings this decade to save energy.
Roughly 85% of Europe’s buildings are expected to be standing in 2050. Most are heated by fossil fuels and have a poor energy performance – meaning widespread renovations are needed to bring them into line with the EU’s net zero goal.
The new proposals address “major stumbling blocks in the EU decarbonisation pathway”, Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think tank Bruegel, said, adding that the methane proposal was a chance for the EU – the world’s biggest gas importer – to push suppliers like Russia to also tackle their emissions.
“This is the kind of international impact the European Green Deal needs to make,” he said, referring to the EU’s plan to tackle climate change.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Barbara Lewis)
