Last week, 55 of the European Union's biggest business leaders threw their combined weight behind the EU’s ambition to become long-term climate-neutral. Between the companies that the CEOs run, they directly employ over 5 million people, plus many more in the associated supply chains. Whilst acknowledging that the US had already started the process of formally withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, they agree that against the backdrop of mounting evidence of climate change, the European Commission’s soon-to-be-revealed Green Deal could be a ‘significant opportunity for Europe’.
In a statement, the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) said, ‘In particular, we support Europe’s ambition to become long-term climate-neutral. The challenge is not whether, but how to achieve neutrality in a way that enhances European leadership and competitiveness, and encourages the other 90% of the world (in terms of global emissions) to take similarly bold actions’.
Of course, with the global playing field being far from level, the EU ‘needs to be balanced by an ambitious industrial policy to safeguard the global competitiveness of European industry and equally ambitious energy policy to ensure long-term energy security and affordability’. They believe the EU can be at the forefront of the climate change problem and with the right framework, can contribute both outside and inside Europe towards the mitigation of climate change.
The big question is how we get there. The CEOs are aware that any policies need to be meaningful and effective, whilst addressing the need to stimulate innovation and unleash investment. Moreover, the EU should push harder for any policies to be implemented across the whole of the EU. This would include the reduction in overall energy consumption, access to the inexpensive low carbon energy (or renewables) and provide a framework that gives clear pointers for investment. In the view of the ERT, if done properly ‘getting the incentives and sequencing right would be an important input to the debate on the targets up to 2030’.