Europe strengthened its ambitions in the battle against climate change in 2019 with the European Green Deal. The goal is to make the European Union the first climate-neutral entity by 2050. But how is Europe planning on achieving this?
What is the European Green Deal?
Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, introduced the Green Deal on the 11th of December 2019 as a response to the 2016 Paris Agreement. The intention is to reach “net-zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while maintaining economic growth and this in a way that is fair to every member state and every sector. If successful, Europe would be the first climate-neutral continent and an example to the rest of the world. To this end, the Green Deal contains a set of policy initiatives (to be implemented by the member states themselves) on various topics. For the energy sector, the EU emphasizes the importance of the Energy Transition, which is the transition of our current mainly fuel-driven energy supply towards a power sector (fully) based on renewable resources. The goals in the energy sector also include overall high energy efficiency, high interconnectivity, further digitalisation and electrification, and maintaining affordable prices for energy resources.