EU Climate Policy

EU climate policy consists of a number of objectives, strategies and tools that aim at mitigating climate change and its impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening climate adaptation efforts. Moreover, the EU fights for a global climate agreement with binding targets.

During the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, there are two dossiers on the area of climate policy that will dominate the work of the Council. Below you can read more about these matters and the EU’s climate policy.

Continuation of international climate negotiations

The EU is still working towards reaching a legally binding global climate agreement that obliges the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the target of average temperature increases remaining below 2 degrees centigrade.

During the spring of 2012, the Danish EU Presidency aims to ensure that the EU  follows up on any decisions taken at the conference of the parties in Durban, and to continue the work on clarifying EU positions on some of the most difficult issues in the negotiations.

These include the question of the future of the Kyoto protocol and what is to happen with the many emission quotas that a number of countries have not been able to use because of the financial crisis.

Climate Road Map 2050

In March 2011, the European Commission submitted a proposal for a roadmap for the EU’s own climate policy until 2050. The roadmap outlines a possible cost-effective scenario until 2050, which will see the EU reduce its internal greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. In June 2011, the Council debated this roadmap, but was not able to agree on a concluding text.

The European Commission will submit an assessment of what it will cost the Member States to increase the reduction target in 2020. The Danish EU Presidency will resume the debate on the future shape of the EU’s own long-term climate policy, and in this connection initiate discussions i.e. on potential milestones for emission reductions, for instance in 2030 and 2040.


The EU's role in the climate policy
The EU's efforts to prevent global warming started with the Kyoto Protocol, which commits the EU to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent in the period 2008-2012 compared to 1990 levels.

The risk of climate change has not become less serious since the Kyoto Protocol was ratified. The EU Member States have therefore decided to work together to ensure that global temperatures do not increase by more than two degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.

This requires, among other things, that the EU and other industrialised countries draw up long-term strategies for a society with extremely low levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The EU also helps to ensure a strategic common approach to Europe's adaptation to inevitable climate change.

Climate targets and strategies
The EU's ambitious climate efforts require binding targets that can be summarised under a number of comprehensive objectives and strategies: 

  • The 2020 targets
  • The Roadmap to a low-carbon society in 2050
  • Active participation in international climate negotiations

The 2020 targets feature an overall objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent in 2020 compared to 1990. The target may be increased to 30 per cent if a global climate agreement can be reached which implies that other industrialised countries commit themselves to taking serious action.

The 2020 targets also include targets for increasing the percentage of energy consumption supplied by renewable sources to 20 per cent and increasing energy efficiency by 20 per cent. The Climate and Energy Package which was adopted by the EU Member States and the European Parliament in 2008 aims to realise these ambitions.

The EU's Roadmap to a low-carbon society in 2050 is to ensure the long-term transition to a society with low levels of CO2 emissions. The Roadmap is to establish a cost-effective way to reduce the EU’s emissions of greenhouse gasses by 80-95 per cent in 2050. The plan is to be developed in close connection with the EU’s Energy Roadmap 2050.

International climate negotiations are an important EU priority that are to contribute to a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During the Danish Presidency, work is to be done on, among other things, a follow-up on COP17, which forms the background to the negotiations leading up to COP18.

Regulatory framework for the climate
The EU’s quota trading system has been an important tool in the EU’s climate efforts since 2005. The quota trading system includes a ceiling for the number of CO2 credits, which is fixed by each Member State. Under this ceiling, credits may be traded, which then gives an economic incentive to reduce CO2 emissions as surplus credits can be sold. Quotas are assigned to major energy-intensive industries and energy producing enterprises.

Here you can find more information about EU climate policy

UN website on the Kyoto protocol

European Commission website on the Climate and Energy Package and the 20-20-20 goals

European Commission website on the Roadmap to a low-carbon society in 2050