The EU can increase its climate targets to be in line with a global 1.5degC

The study concludes that the EU could achieve greenhouse gas reductions of -55% to -62% below 1990 levels by 2030 by scaling best practice policies from member states like Denmark and Germany. Key levers include a faster coal exit, increased electrical energy efficiency, deeper building renovations, and higher emissions standards for transport. Implementing these measures could reduce energy demand by nearly 45% below 2007 levels and increase renewable energy's share of total final energy demand to 45%, suggesting that political will, rather than technical capacity, is the primary barrier to more ambitious targets.

• The EU has the potential to increase its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets to between -55% and -62% below 1990 levels, which would align with the Paris Agreement's goal of pursuing a 1.5°C limit.
• The power sector offers the highest potential for emission reductions through three primary drivers: improving electrical energy efficiency on the demand side, accelerating the exit from coal, and maintaining strong support policies for renewable energy sources (RES) to increase deployment rates.
• Significant reductions in other sectors can be achieved through higher emissions standards and electric vehicle support in transport, faster and deeper renovations of existing buildings, and a combination of circular economy policies and a shift away from fossil fuels in industry.
• Broad application of best practice policies would result in energy demand falling nearly 45% below the 2007 baseline and renewable energy sources reaching 45% of total final energy demand, both of which significantly exceed the European Commission's proposals of -30% and 27% respectively.
• The primary obstacle to achieving ambitious greenhouse gas targets is political will rather than technical limitations, although scaling these policies across all member states presents massive challenges.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2018). The EU can increase its climate targets to be in line with a global 1.5degC. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-eu-can-increase-its-climate-targets-to-be-in-line-with-a-global-15degc

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. The EU can increase its climate targets to be in line with a global 1.5degC. 2018. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-eu-can-increase-its-climate-targets-to-be-in-line-with-a-global-15degc.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=The EU can increase its climate targets to be in line with a global 1.5degC |date=4 May 2018 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-eu-can-increase-its-climate-targets-to-be-in-line-with-a-global-15degc |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2018can, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{The EU can increase its climate targets to be in line with a global 1.5degC}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-eu-can-increase-its-climate-targets-to-be-in-line-with-a-global-15degc}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }