How Can the EU Agree on Climate Targets & Accelerate the Transition to Net Zero?

CGTN Europe

CGT Europe spoke to Kaveh Guilanpour, Vice President for International Strategies at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Transcript

00:00Kaveh Ghilampour is the Vice President for International Strategies at the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions.

00:06Welcome to the programme. Thanks so much for your time.

00:09As a former climate negotiator, just how difficult is it for the EU to agree on these climate targets?

00:18Well, thank you for inviting me.

00:19Yes, it's going to be difficult, particularly as we get closer to that end date and goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

00:27Things are going to get more difficult because much of the low-hanging fruit will have been harvested.

00:33And, of course, to agree the climate target for 2035 in the so-called nationally determined contribution,

00:40the EU will have to reach a consensus, so it's not going to be a majority vote.

00:44So, obviously, that's going to be difficult, but I'm pretty confident that the EU will get there.

00:49President von der Leyen made a commitment to that effect when she spoke at the UN General Assembly in September of this year.

00:55And where is European climate leadership coming from?

01:01Well, you've mentioned a number of countries there that are particularly keen to move forward,

01:06but I think it's important that the ambition comes from the bloc as a whole

01:10and that the bloc moves forward together as it has done in the past.

01:14So, it's not surprising that there are going to be some difficulties around the details.

01:19But I think that in law, the net zero emissions by 2050 is already there in law.

01:25It's now about setting the pathway to achieve that.

01:28So, I don't think it's about the direction of travel.

01:30It's more about the details in particular sectors and certain aspects of how you would achieve those cuts on the way to net zero.

01:38That's a very diplomatic answer, if I might say.

01:41Which countries are dragging their feet?

01:44Well, I think we'll have to wait for the report, but there's different countries have different priorities.

01:49For example, Spain was one of the countries that really led the way in the European Union with a transition to renewable energy.

01:55So, of course, Spain is very keen to push ahead with that.

01:58There are others in the European Union that are still fossil fuel producers

02:02and are leading the way globally on how to transition away in a just manner from fossil fuels to clean energy.

02:10So, the European Union is really kind of a microcosm of the range of challenges that countries around the world are facing.

02:16But the commitment towards moving towards net zero is definitely there.

02:20It's more about how that is divided up and how the European Union plays its part in that transition.

02:26You've got decades of experience in this field.

02:29What are your expectations of the next conference, COP30?

02:36Well, it's very important that the European Union does come forward with a target.

02:40China has already done so and a number of other countries, but we're still far behind all 196 coming forward.

02:47So, I think that's going to be important.

02:49And then the conference will have to respond to the collective level of ambition.

02:53We've seen in the recent UN report that it seems that global emissions have finally peaked and are starting to come down.

03:01The question now is how do we accelerate that transition?

03:04Because the transition is inevitable.

03:07We will reach net zero emissions.

03:09The question is how quickly will we do that and can we accelerate?

03:13Kaveh Gilenpour, thanks so much for your time.

03:15Hopefully, we'll speak after the COP.

03:17Kaveh Gilenpour, Vice President for International Strategies at the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions.

03:22Kaveh Gilenpour, Vice President for International Strategies at the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions.

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