European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Herman Van Rompuywelcomed the announcement by the Presidents of the United States and China on their respective post-2020 actions.
The announcement showed that the October 24 call by EU Leaders to other countries “to come forward quickly with their intended greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets is being answered,” Juncker and Van Rompuy said in a joint statement.
In October, the European Union agreed ambitious targets for 2030 with a legally binding reduction of CO2 emissions of at least 40%, increases of renewable energy and energy efficiency of at least 27% and a boost of the internal European energy market through a boost of interconnection.The announcements to date cover around half of the global emissions.
“We urge others, especially the G20 members, to announce their targets in the first half of 2015 and transparently.
“Only then we can assess together if our collective efforts will allow us to fulfil the goal of keeping global temperature increases well below 2 degrees Celsius,” the statement said.
The EU expects these targets to be part of a longer range effort to transition to low carbon economies.
“Now it will be important to maintain the level of ambition and aim for a credible and durable global climate agreement in Paris next year,” the statement said.
More details: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-14-1663_en.htm
