Cop27: EU says it is not backtracking on emissions

European Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans today stressed that the EU was not backtracking on its emissions reduction commitments, hailing the bloc's efforts to increase its greenhouse gas (GHG) targets.

The EU will update its emissions goals once all elements of its so-called Fit for 55 legislative package have been agreed towards the end of this year. The parliament said that the new target will increase the EU's GHG reductions to 57pc by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, from 55pc based on previous calculations, assuming land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) savings of 225mn t CO2e.

Timmersman said the "EU was delivering", in response to comments that Europe's dash for coal and gas, resulting from Russia's war in Ukraine could affect the bloc's credibility in negotiations, especially with some African countries looking to develop their oil and gas resources.

Timmermans acknowledged the fact that the European energy crisis resulted in countries burning more coal and looking to buy more LNG as the bloc worked to decrease its dependence on Russian gas to 10pc of its energy needs, from 40pc before the war. "If we could with a magic wand create renewable energy overnight we would do that, but that takes time," he said, adding that the EU will have to make sure, this winter and the next two winters, it has enough fossil fuels to help its households and industries.

"The fact that we have agreed politically on legislation that will take us beyond our reduction targets of 55pc [of emissions reductions by 2030], means that we are still on track," Timmermans said. He added that in three years the EU will have changed its energy mix.

Some countries in Africa have said during Cop 27 that they should be allowed to use their oil and gas resources to develop their economies and fund the energy transition, while developed countries are pushing for stronger global emissions commitments.

Timmermans said he was not asking African countries not to invest in fossil fuels, but pointed at the risk of ending up with stranded fossil fuel assets — when developed fossil fuel resources end up not being burned. "I am just telling them: be careful what you do because if you invest in coal now, you will surely result in stranded assets."

He said: "If you are going to invest in oil, you will probably be left with stranded assets, natural gas is a different situation... especially if you combine that with infrastructure that it pre-fitted to carry other gases with other densities such as green hydrogen or green ammonia," he added.

He said he hoped that people in the fossil fuel industry "hear the clock ticking and the bell ringing". "If I compare with a couple of years ago almost all of them understand that there is going to be a world beyond fossil fuels, and they need to prepare for that. "Of course some of them will try to slow things down," he added.

By Bachar Halabi