
Environment Ministers meet in brussels to discuss CLEAN PLANET FOR ALL
On 5 March, the Romanian Presidency will invite ministers to hold a policy debate on Clean Planet for All.
The Council will hold a policy debate on the Communication for a strategic long-term vision for a climate neutral economy. The Environment Council had a first exchange of views on the Communication in December. There have also been ministerial discussions in the Energy and Competitiveness Councils, and further sectoral debates are planned in the coming weeks and months. The European Council will address the topic at its meeting on 21 and 22 March where heads of state and government are expected to give political guidance.
On 28 November 2018, the European Commission presented a strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy (‘A Clean Planet for all’) in response to the European Council’s request in March 2018. The communication sets out the Commission’s vision for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050.
The Communication aims to demonstrate how the European Union can lead the way by investing in realistic technological solutions, creating citizen ownership, and better coordinating measures in key areas such as industrial policy, finance and research. It draws furthermore attention to the need to achieve this by way of a socially just transition, by enhancing the EU’s competitiveness in global markets and by creating highly skilled jobs and sustainable growth in Europe. It also highlights ancillary benefits such as improvement of air quality and preservation of biodiversity.
The long-term vision encompasses nearly all relevant policy areas and is consistent with the objective of the Paris Agreement of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.