The organizations say that more needs to be done to fight global warming, climate change

Jan 23, 2014 02:56 GMT  ·  By
Green groups are now happy with new set of climate and energy targets delivered by the European Commission
   Green groups are now happy with new set of climate and energy targets delivered by the European Commission

Earlier today, the European Commission announced that it had agreed on a set of climate and energy policies that it hoped would steer the world in the right direction as far as fighting climate change and global warming was concerned.

Thus, it was agreed upon that, by the year 2030, the European Union should cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 40% when compared to 1990 levels.

Besides, the Commission announced that, by the same date, the European Union must do its best and have 27% of its overall power demand met by renewables.

It also said that, through the 2020s, it would be best if the energy efficiency of member states were to improve by 25%.

According to Click Green, the European Commission is quite pleased with the climate and energy policies it put forward earlier today.

Thus, President José Manuel Barroso argued that, “Climate action is central for the future of our planet, while a truly European energy policy is key for our competitiveness,” and that, “Today's package proves that tackling the two issues simultaneously is not contradictory, but mutually reinforcing.”

Not at all surprisingly, green groups are not exactly convinced that the European Commission made the right call when establishing these climate and energy targets.

On the contrary, they say that, given available scientific data, more needs to be done in order to combat said phenomena.

They described the new policies as weak, and criticized the fact that no legally binding national targets were put on the table.

“After months of anticipation, the Commission has repackaged a slowdown in the current pace of emissions cuts and renewable energy deployment, and called it ambitious. It is putting Europe’s economic modernization at risk,” said Jason Anderson with the World Wildlife Fund.

“After months of bickering and in-fighting the European Commission has produced a set of proposals that will satisfy almost no-one.”

“They will do little to tackle climate change and in their current form give little certainty to Europe’s once thriving but now fragile clean tech sector,” added John Sauven on behalf of Greenpeace.

According to the latter, a greenhouse gas emissions target of 55% by 2030 is mandatory if the world is to even stand a chance of putting a leash on climate change and global warming.