EU Roadmap for Moving to a Competitive Low Carbon Economy

March 12, Noon, 201 Moses Hall

Dr. Christian Burgsmüller, Counselor, Head of the Energy, Transport and Environment Section, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America The European Union has binding targets in place to reach a triple 20% target by the year 2020: a 20% share of renewable energy, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990. Based on measures in place, the EU is on track to meet two out of these (renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions); work is underway to ensure that the energy efficiency target is being met too. As a result, over two decades, emissions have declined by 16% while the EU economy grew by 40%. The European Commission's long term objective is to reduce emissions by 80% to 95% by 2050. The measures envisaged to meet this objective include support for the development of a new generation of competitive low-carbon technologies for renewable energies; energy storage; and the development of trans-European energy networks.