EU needs to double investment to meet climate goals — report Agence France-Presse

PARIS, France — The European Union needs to double targeted investment to meet its 2030 climate goal, a consortium of research organizations said on Tuesday, warning that the pace of Europe's related action must accelerate. Delivering on the 2030 objective is pivotal for the EU's ability to achieve an ambitious target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and end its contribution to global warming. There are "promising signs of progress" in decarbonising electricity generation and industry, and deploying clean technology, said the European Climate Neutrality Observatory (ECNO), which tracks the EU's headway towards carbon neutrality. But "progress is currently still too slow overall", it said in a report. The group warned that a lack of climate financing is slowing down the transition. "Without a turn-around on finance and realising the necessary investments, the transition could fail," said a summary for policymakers. The report draws on data from 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed the EU into an energy crisis. That year, the EU recorded an investment shortfall of 406 billion euros ($435 billion) for the energy, building and transport sectors alone compared to what is needed to meet the 2030 climate target, researchers found. The EU has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. To align with its climate goal, annual investments in those sectors need to double to 800 billion euros. "That is the next challenge for the EU Commission: a long-term investment plan for how it will address the investment gap," said report co-author Clara Calipel, of the Institute for Climate Economics. The analysis compared investment needs with what was spent by households, companies and governments in the 27 EU member states in 2022. The same year, fossil fuel subsidies tripled from 2021 levels to reach 190 billion euros, as governments sought to support households and companies facing hiked energy prices. Fossil fuel subsidies need to be progressively phased out and redirected towards financing the transition, including through helping households renovate their home, install a heat pump and switch to an electric car, Calipel said. Picking up the pace of climate action also means accelerating the roll out of renewable energy and the phase out of coal, oil and gas. To deliver on the 2030 climate goal, the share of renewable electricity must grow 1.4 times faster while the bloc's fossil fuel phaseout must speed up by 1.8 times, with gas phaseout lagging behind, the report said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more