The EU has set itself lofty goals for protecting the climate.
It is now becoming increasingly clear what this means for citizens and consumers.
Not everyone should be enthusiastic.
Brussels - floods, heat waves, hurricanes and rising sea levels: the EU states agree that climate change must be stopped as quickly as possible.
By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by at least 55 percent compared to 1990 - before the EU is climate-neutral in 2050.
Now there is an initial plan for how these goals are to be achieved.
An overview:
Stricter carbon dioxide limits for cars
The state of affairs:
Transport is the only important sector in the EU that has not seen a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions over the past few decades.
According to the Federal Environment Agency in Germany, for example, total carbon dioxide emissions from car traffic rose by 5.1 percent between 1995 and 2019, and in road freight traffic they were even 21 percent higher in 2019 than in 1995. The reason is the significant increase in kilometers driven - that Cars and trucks emit fewer greenhouse gases on average today than they did in 1995, but this only eased the trend.
So far, the CO2 emissions of new cars in 2030 will have to be 37.5 percent lower on average than in 2021. Manufacturers whose fleet emissions exceed the limit values should then pay a fee for all additional CO2 emissions.
What should change:
The EU Commission proposes increasing the target to a value of 55 percent.
In addition, all new vehicles should be emission-free from 2035.
However, there should be a review clause.
According to this, every two years it should be analyzed how far the manufacturers are;
A major test report is to follow in 2028.
Theoretically, the date 2035 could then still be postponed.
Possible problems:
The auto industry warns of unilateral requirements.
The European manufacturer association Acea recently made it clear that it considers a significant tightening of CO2 limit values to be feasible only if there are also binding requirements for more infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Less pollution rights for industry
The state of affairs:
In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, the so-called emissions trading system (EU-ETS) was set up as early as 2005. It stipulates that certain companies need pollution certificates for the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and perfluorinated hydrocarbons, which they either have to purchase at auction or are given free of charge. Since the amount of available certificates is continuously decreasing and they can also be traded retrospectively, there is a great incentive for companies to reduce their emissions as much as possible.
The emissions trading system currently applies to more than 10,000 plants in the electricity sector and in the processing industry, as well as emissions from intra-European air traffic.
Overall, it covers around 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
The upper limit for the number of certificates is currently being reduced by 2.2 percent annually.
In the case of the other major greenhouse gas emitters, such as traffic, buildings, agriculture and garbage, the focus is on burden sharing.
This means that the necessary reduction in greenhouse gases in these sectors is divided among the 27 EU countries with national targets.
What should change:
The system is to be revised to make it even more efficient. The EU Commission proposes to include parts of maritime transport. In addition, a separate emissions trading system is to be created for the fuels used in road traffic and for heating buildings. In addition, the Commission wants to reduce the number of available pollution certificates faster than planned. This should reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the sectors covered by the ETS trade by 61 percent by 2030 compared to 2005. So 18 percentage points more than before.
Impacts for poorer people are to be addressed through a social fund.
According to the Commission, EU countries could provide their citizens with money for investments in energy efficiency, new heating and cooling systems and cleaner mobility.
Possible problems:
The pressure on energy-intensive industries increases again if the proposals are accepted in this way.
Then it would be questionable what effects this will have on their international competitiveness.
If traffic and buildings are also covered by an emissions trading system, this can lead to social injustices.
There are large differences in purchasing power across the EU, which would mean that consumers in countries with lower incomes would be burdened more than average.
This is supposed to be offset by the social fund - but whether that works remains to be seen.
In countries like France, for example, the yellow vest protests have shown what can trigger a possible increase in gasoline and diesel prices.
CO2 border adjustment mechanism
The state of affairs:
Companies are already complaining that they are disadvantaged on the world market because of the high costs of climate protection - especially when they are in direct competition with companies that have no or only comparatively low climate protection costs.
The situation could worsen again due to the new EU climate laws.
In addition, there is a risk that companies will relocate their production to other countries with less stringent emission requirements for cost reasons.
This could lead to a loss of jobs and an increase in global emissions.
What should change:
The EU Commission wants to ensure that products from third countries that are comparatively harmful to the climate no longer have any competitive advantages in the EU.
For this purpose, a so-called CO2 border tax is to be introduced for certain products, which depends on how many greenhouse gases are generated in the production of the products and whether they have already been paid abroad.
Goods from non-EU countries with less stringent climate protection requirements could become significantly more expensive.
Specifically, from 2026, CO2 will first be priced in for iron and steel, cement, fertilizers, aluminum and electricity generation.
Possible problems:
The introduction of a so-called border adjustment mechanism is considered extremely delicate.
This is because it may only be compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization if companies in the EU no longer receive free pollution certificates.
This in turn means that energy-intensive industries are protected against unfair competition on the domestic market, but not on the world market.
In principle, new trade conflicts could also threaten with countries such as the USA, China and India.
And more:
More renewable energies
The current rule is that the share of renewable energies should reach 32 percent by 2030 at the latest.
This EU-wide binding target is to be increased to 40 percent.
More taxes on energy
In future, energy taxes will also be due on fuels used in aviation and shipping.
In principle, energy taxes should also be levied on the basis of the energy content and the environmental compatibility of fuels and electricity.
So far it has been about volume.
Emissions compensation
In the future, more emissions should be compensated for by afforestation, for example.
For example, there are plans to plant three billion trees by 2030.
This is intended to offset greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, for example.
As long as people want to eat cheese and meat, for example, greenhouse gases such as methane are produced during production through the digestion of cows.
How it goes on
Now the real negotiations begin, especially between the member states in the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. How long the talks will last is unclear. In principle, however, speed is of the essence in order to give industry and consumers as much time as possible for the changes and the necessary savings. dpa
