In 2016, the European Commission will set out most of its Energy Union strategy. As part of the strategy, the European Council has agreed on targets for at least 40% emissions reductions, 27% renewables and 27% energy efficiency by 2030.These targets have been widely criticised for their lack of ambition and their inconsistency with the global Paris Agreement of holding the increase in temperature to well below 2oC and pursuing efforts to limit the rise to 1.5oC.
The EU's current efforts will not deliver its own long-term goal of cutting emissions by 80-95% by 2050, let alone the deeper cuts needed to limit temperature increases to 1.5 oC as agreed in Paris. All the evidence supports more ambition. The International Renewable Energy Agency has found that doubling the global share of renewables, to reach 36% in total final energy consumption, by 2030 would bring a range of positive impacts including an increase in global gross domestic product of up to 1.1 percent, improvement of global welfare by 3.7 percent and over 24 million people working in the renewable energy sectorviii. The OECD has confirmed that countries that implement stringent environmental policies do not lose export competitiveness when compared against countries with more moderate regulationsix. It is already as cheap to produce electricity from onshore wind farms as it is from coalx and clean energy (renewables and energy efficiency) attracted a record $329bn of global investment in 2015xi. However, Europe saw a decrease in clean energy investment in 2015, which at $58.5bn was down 18% on 2014 and its weakest figure since 2006xii . For the wellbeing of its citizens, the strength of its economy, and the sustainability of its environment, the EU must clarify when and how it will ratchet up delivery on greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency, and renewables deployment.
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