CAN Europe, Carbon Market Watch and 131 other civil society organisations, academia and businesses have written to the European Commission to express extreme concern regarding the option currently being supported by some policymakers to open the EU 2040 climate target and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, to international credits.
Introducing international credits within the EU climate targets would weaken EU’s level of domestic ambition, which already lags behind its fair share as highlighted by the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), undermining EU global climate leadership and credibility. It would also open a Pandora’s box of relying on other countries and market actors for due diligence and risking serious reputational damage if the credits allowed turn out to be of poor quality, in addition to far-reaching financial implications.
It is by far not the easy or cheap solution to achieve climate targets, which it appears to be in the eyes of some proponents. The EU should continue with the practice of achieving its binding climate targets domestically, as enshrined in the EU Climate Law, for the 2030 target and the climate neutrality goal. It is overdue now for the EU to adopt an ambitious 2040 target.
