Media Advisory
The European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is voting on the EU Just Transition Fund - which aims to support EU regions in their transition to climate neutrality - on 6 July. They have the chance to follow the EU Council, which last week agreed to fully exclude fossil fuels from funding. The Parliament voted to exclude fossil fuels from EU regional funds in March 2019. Yet despite this, there is a potential unholy alliance between the ECR, EPP and Renew to push for a big loophole which would allow some gas power and infrastructure to get funding.
Read more: ‘Unholy alliance’ of MEPs must not allow gas in Just Transition fund
European civil society organisations map out the first-ever NGO-led energy scenario based on 100% renewable energy and looking at reducing carbon emissions by at least 65% by 2030. The analysis corroborates existing evidence, showing that Europe can achieve climate neutrality by 2040 - a decade before the 2050 target - and lead the rest of the world in the energy transition.
Read more: Civil society-led energy scenario sets path to climate neutral Europe by 2040
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that the European Union should align its short-term recovery objectives with the long-term climate goal by investing in energy efficiency and clean energy infrastructure to see greenhouse gas emissions further decline. These are some of the key recommendations put forward in IEA’s quinquennial report “European Union 2020 - Energy Policy Review” issued this morning.
Yesterday the Council agreed to exclude all fossil fuel activities, including fossil gas, from the scope of the Just Transition Fund, a financial mechanism meant to support EU regions that currently rely the most on fossil fuels in their just transition towards climate neutrality.
Read more: Council goes fossil fuel-free in Just Transition funding
Today EU environment ministers have met to discuss the contribution of environmental and climate policies to the recovery from COVID-19, with a focus on circular economy.
Ministers overwhelmingly acknowledged the crisis requires a rethink of our production and consumption patterns, but more consistency and synergies between climate and environment policies are needed to ensure the industry sector fully taps into the emission reductions potential of a circular economy. Some also reiterated their support for the EU to agree to a 2030 climate target of at least 55% emission cuts this year.
Read more: Industrial decarbonisation needs circularity and resource use reductions