Fit for 55

After the German federal elections in September 2021, the Greens joined a government coalition with the Social Democrats and the Liberals. MdBs Dr. Anna Christmann and Claudia Müller are respectively the new Federal Government Coordinators of German Aerospace Policy, and for the Maritime Industry and for Tourism. Philipp Cerny and Martin Keim conducted a joint interview to find out more about their priorities and thoughts.

In the midst of a cruel war and an unfolding climate crisis, Europe has to answer a crucial question: how do we cut our energy ties with Russia, while at the same time accelerating our transition towards energy efficiency and a renewable energy system? Commentary by Green MEP Bas Eickhout.

The fossil fuel industry tries to present carbon dioxide removal technologies as a safe and effective technical solution to climate problems. However, they have not been proven to be safe and effective. Although the technologies have been extensively subsidized and promoted for several decades – with both public and private funding – there has been no significant progress in their development. Many projects have been abandoned due to high costs or technical problems.

The EU and Germany aim to be climate neutral by 2050 and 2045, respectively. The commitment to climate neutrality means that zero-emission alternatives will replace emissions-intensive processes and products. One energy alternative is climate-friendly hydrogen. However, hydrogen is not an all-purpose miracle that solves everything at once.

Reducing methane emissions from oil and gas production to consumption is key in preventing radiative forcing. Shutting down the most immediate unabated emissions of the greenhouse gas methane can be done at no net cost and it has enormous potential in terms of climate policy. Climate tipping points in relation to global warming must be avoided. Yet, the oil and gas industry does not exhaust all options to reduce methane leakages, partly due to a lack of regulation. The EU is planning to deliver binding legislation to this end, covering also gas imports. This event presented concrete policy proposals for a methane charge and a performance standard.

The European Commission's Fit-for-55 package proposal to go to 100% zero emission car sales from 2035 shows a serious commitment for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, and will put European industry in the driving seat to dominate the new global electric vehicle (EV) market. While this move could democratise the purchase of EVs, policy-makers need to take a small extra step to ensure early build up of EVs to drive cost reductions and fully guarantee that chargers are available in the right locations.

In her 2021 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appealed to Europe’s soul, which, she said, has been tested to the core in times of multiple crises. The team of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union did its own soul-searching, pointing at the good, the not-so-good and the missing in von der Leyen’s speech.

While the EU's Fit-for-55 Package includes many important files, the European Commission postponed legislation on methane a particularly potent greenhouse gas to December 2021. This article summarises the issues at stake and argues that without stringent regulation on this gas, the Fit-for-55 Package will fail to reach climate goals.