The EU Commission has presented its proposal for a new climate goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The proposal, which is now to be discussed by the EU countries' environment ministers and voted on in the EU Parliament, proposes a reduction of greenhouse gases within the EU by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.
The proposal includes "flexibility" where countries can invest three percent in countries outside the EU and count it in the climate work.
This is a kind of "lubricant" to get the member states on board, as it is cheaper than domestic investments, according to Naghmeh Nasiritousi, researcher at Linköping University and the Institute for Foreign Affairs.
The problem with this is that many such projects have previously shown to deliver less emission reductions than calculated. It's often many links when you pay others to reduce emissions, and besides, it's difficult to know if those investments lead to increased emissions elsewhere, she says.
Becomes a definition issue
The EU also wants to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
One can imagine that it means being climate-neutral at home, but now they are opening up for it to also mean that they have reduced emissions in other countries. It becomes a definition issue.
She also points out that, contrary to what many researchers recommend, the work on capturing carbon dioxide is part of the goal of reducing emissions. It should be separate to not be mixed up with reducing emissions, as the phasing out of it is essential to achieving the Paris Agreement's temperature target.
Critical of Sweden's role
The EU's climate science council had proposed to the Commission that the reduction should be between 90-95 percent – but with investments outside the EU, critics believe that the Commission is not following the council's proposal. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calls the targets "insufficient" and investments abroad "questionable".
"If the Commission now wants to strengthen competitiveness, it's not logical to waste tax money outside the EU, it's better to invest in European companies and workers," says Martin Wadmark, climate expert at WWF, in a press release.
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is also critical of the role Sweden has played in getting the proposal on investments outside the EU.
"It risks undermining the level of ambition in climate work and leads to delayed climate transformation. Sweden should show leadership and drive for the EU to instead adopt a target of near zero by no later than 2040," says Karin Lexén, Secretary General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, in a press release.
