A recent analysis of the costs of tightening the European' Union's carbon-reduction targets has highlighted that the 20 percent emissions reduction target will actually be less costly for the EU than anticipated spurring lobbyists to push for more ambitious climate goals.
Environmental lobbies and companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) have urged the EU to adopt more stringent emissions reduction targets in the wake of the news that the 20 percent target will be less costly, thus a 30 percent reduction scenario will be considerably less costly also.

The bill for moving to a 30 percent emissions reduction target in 2020 from the current goal of cutting greenhouse gases by 20 percent would range from 10 euros ($13.10) per capita in the Czech Republic to 136 euros in Luxembourg, according to the EU document. In addition, four out of 27 nations in the bloc -- Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania would observe a profit from 7 euros to 54 euros per capita.

The EU governments, which demand cost-risk analysis to precede any decisions on future greenhouse-gas targets, are set to discuss this analysis document at a meeting of environment ministers on March 9.

Denmark, who will chair the meeting, has proposed that member states "recognise" the commission's findings and "invite" the EU regulator to "present timely options for delivering the reductions in the Low Carbon Economy Roadmap to 2050 for the period to 2030," according to a draft document obtained by Bloomberg News.

The draft conclusions are subject to talks by diplomats from member states and may be changed before the meeting.

Member states remain divided on whether to raise the stringency of the EU's climate policies, a step that would cost the bloc a total of 70 billion euros, according to the analysis. While western European countries have voiced support for tighter pollution caps on companies, eastern nations have in previous years tended to favor a more cautious approach and said a more ambitious approach could hurt their economic competitiveness.

 

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