Report Finds All European Union Countries Failing Paris Climate Targets

By Myron Ebell of CEI.

"CANEurope (Climate Action Network Europe) released a report this month that finds that all 28 member nations of the European Union are failing to meet the solemn obligations they undertook in ratifying the Paris climate treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The report begins: “The ranking shows that all EU countries are off target: they are failing to increase their climate action in line with the Paris Agreement goal. No single EU country is performing sufficiently in both ambition and progress in reducing carbon emissions. Countries can and must to do more to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

Sweden achieved the highest grade of 77%, with Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg scoring between 66 and 56. At the bottom of the rankings were Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, and Poland, which was dead last at only 16.   

Ironically, several of these EU members were among twenty-two countries that released a statement this week announcing that they “planned to lead from the front” by setting new, more ambitious goals to reduce emissions by 2020. According to Alister Doyle reporting for Reuters, the countries signing the statement included EU members Sweden, Germany, Britain, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands. Also signing were Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Rwanda, and Saint Lucia."