Nicholas Stern comments on European Commission's proposals for European Union 2030 energy and climate package

“Responding to the publication today of the European Commission’s proposals for the European Union energy and climate change package for 2030, Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “It is very important that European leaders accept the Commission’s proposed target for reducing emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 as the minimum ambition they must set at their summit in March.

“It is vital that countries commit to reducing emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 through domestic action alone in order to provide the necessary clarity about the pace of decarbonisation of the European economy. Billions of euros of private investment in the low-carbon transition could be unleashed if the 2030 target gives greater confidence to companies, particularly in the power sector, that the European Union is on an optimal path towards the long-term goal of reducing emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 compared with 1990.

“China and many other countries recognise that the low-carbon transition will provide the economic growth story of the next few decades, and European countries will also gain from being at the forefront of this energy and industrial revolution. A strong emissions reduction target would also mean that the European Union can exert leadership in the international negotiations over a new climate treaty to be signed in Paris in 2015.”

Notes for Editors

1. The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (https://www.cccep.ac.uk/) is hosted by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (https://www.esrc.ac.uk/). The Centre’s mission is to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research.
2. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (https://www.lse.ac.uk/grantham) was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (https://www.granthamfoundation.org/).