(04 June 2014) – The European Union will set out its contribution to raising the ambition of international climate action up to 2020 during UN climate change negotiations taking place from 4 to 15 June in Bonn, Germany.
The EU has successfully broken the link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. While emissions were cut by 19% between 1990 and 2012, the EU economy grew by more than 44%. This reduced emissions per unit of GDP by almost half, making the EU one of the most energy-efficient economies in the world.
On top of this major contribution to bridging the ‘ambition gap’, the EU will make clear that its offer to increase its official greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2020 from 20% to 30% if other major economies take comparable action remains on the table.
A priority for the EU in Bonn will be to make progress towards a decision at the Lima UN climate conference in December on concrete ways to step up the ambition of global climate action before 2020.