A firm objective of carbon neutrality by 2050 was not included by the European Council in their conclusions. A group of states tried unsuccessfully to convince the European Council to include the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050 in their conclusions. Belgium was not part of the group, the Echo reported on Thursday.
The conclusions’ project draft, obtained by the newspaper, mention the importance of presenting an ambitious long-term strategy to "endeavour" to achieve carbon neutrality… without elaborating.
A handful of member states wanted to go further and requested the addition of both a 2050 deadline and the need for the EU to be consistent with the 1.5°C target, included in the Paris Agreement. These countries felt that the use of the term “to endeavour" to achieve carbon neutrality did not really show determination for a higher level of ambition.
These "progressive" countries were France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Spain and Portugal, according to L'Echo who quoted a diplomatic source.
Belgium, meanwhile, did not push to review the Council's conclusions. Yet, one of the demands of the Climate Coalition, who had organized the December 2018 event in Brussels, was that Belgium pleads for more ambitious climate action.
The Brussels Times
