Remarks by Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans at Informal Environment Council

Dear ministers, Svenja,

I'm so sorry that I'm not in Berlin. I would have loved to be with you today, but sadly, one of our kids was tested positive for corona so we need to stay indoors for a while. But thank you for the opportunity to talk to you in this manner.

Since we have decided as European Union to lead the way worldwide and to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, we also have to have a roadmap for how we are going to get there. The first thing we then need to do is to determine what we need to do in ten years' time, by 2030.

It was clear from the start that we needed to do more. The current measures for our emissions reduction would only get us to about minus 60% by 2050. The science also showed clearly that an extra effort was necessary if we are to keep the rise of the temperature below 1.5 degrees. If we see the ravages already created by a temperature rise of 1 degree, I think the sense of urgency to limit that rise has increased tremendously.

Thank you for your nice words about the impact assessment. I have to say, I am actually really very proud of that document. Not that there is any merit of mine, but the people at the Commission working on this did an incredible job. I believe it is a balanced document, it does not whitewash anything, it points really to the challenges that we have. But at the end of the day, it also says clearly that at 2030 target of minus 55% is feasible and actually really good for the European Union.

We can reduce the amount of emissions in the required order of magnitude; it requires significant investments and efforts from all. It will certainly not be easy, but it can be done. If we do it in a responsible way, it will support sustainable growth, job creation, lower energy bills, decrease dependency from energy imports and deliver important other benefits in terms of health and well-being. I am always reminded of the fact that 400.000 Europeans every year die prematurely because of poor air quality, just to give you one example.

I know full well, as you just said Svenja, that not every country, not every region, not every sector, not every household is in the same starting position. We need to make sure that distributional effects of what we need to do are well addressed. We need to make sure that no one is left behind. It is my strong conviction that either this will be a just transition or there will just be no transition. So we need to have that very much at the front of our considerations.

The Impact Assessment analyses the impacts of an increased target for 2030 at EU level. It does not provide specific information per Member State. But at the same time, I am convinced that with the findings of the impact assessment we have all the necessary information on the table to decide under which conditions the Union as a whole can reach the new target.

In order to help you implement a higher 2030 ambition, next year, we will revise and expand the EU Emissions Trading System. We will adapt the Effort Sharing Regulation and the framework for land use emissions. We will reinforce our energy efficiency and renewable energy targets, and we will continue to strengthen CO2 standards for cars. However, agreement on the EU's ambition level should not be made conditional upon detailed policy proposals.

Our EU climate ambition is not only driven by our climate policy tools. An array of policies will ensure that we deliver on the increased ambition, not least the ambitious proposals on the MFF and Next Generation EU, providing ample firepower to take significant action. We will spend an enormous amount of money to rebuild our economies following the pandemic, which is still raging. We have to spend this on time, quickly, and we have to spend it on the right things. Not put it in the old economy. We need to make sure that we don't create stranded assets. Because then we waste money – how are we ever going to explain that to our kids? We need to make sure we put it in the right things, that will take us to a sustainable economy.

At the Commission, we will carry out further analysis in the coming months. Our services are currently updating the EU Reference Scenario of its model. This will inform our policy proposals to be tabled at the latest in June next year. We will prepare specific impact assessments for all the relevant pieces of legislation. These impact assessments will reflect on distributional impacts of the policies. I want to assure all member states of that.

Agreement on the EU's increased ambition level to update our Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement will also send a strong signal to our international partners. They are responding: we all put a lot of effort in pushing the Chinese to move on this. Xi Jinping's announcement of carbon neutrality by 2060 is really a good step forward. We have to wait for the concrete plans, but I still salute the step forward.

I am convinced our commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 has had an impact on what the Chinese will do. While we cannot fully endorse their new objective, because it falls short of what China ought to be able to do and of what many other developing countries – who have far less resources than China ought to do – I think this is still a good step forward. And if this step is the first one, I am sure that more will follow.

To conclude, our 2030 target of at least 55% reduction vis-à-vis 1990 is ambitious. But we can do it, industry can do it. The feasibility was an important element on our impact assessment. Relatively speaking, industry is in a good starting position, and the burden on the industry is relatively smaller if you look at the burden that will be put on the transport system and on households. Our attention should also be to avoid creating huge discrepancies, especially in those areas, especially with households.

We have to act now. The sooner we act, the less expensive it becomes and the sooner the benefits will come in. But we can only act if everyone is assured that fairness is the key principle we apply. We have to make sure that the ambition we have does not harm the most vulnerable in society, but actually helps the most vulnerable in our society. Again, I emphasize and I end on this: it will be a just transition or there will just be no transition.

Thank you.