Europe needs strong national climate targets

As the Council adopts its general approach on the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), 14 European NGOs calls upon EU ministers to safeguard the integrity of national climate targets for the achievement of 2030 mitigation goals and the transition towards climate neutrality.

The ESR is key in the EU climate strategy as it covers more than half of the EU’s total emissions. With strong targets and compliance measures the ESR could provide the right incentive to implement game changing sectoral regulatory measures. Without national targets in the ESR sectors, it would be simply impossible to convert such a large part of the economy to sustainability. The same measures that mitigate climate change are also the tools to end the European economies’ dependency on fossil fuels. The revival of energy security issues points more than ever to the necessity to strengthen, not weaken, climate legislation at the EU and national level.