EU President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the Union on September 16, 2020, revealed that the European Commission is proposing to increase the 2030 target for emissions reduction from 40% to 55%. This will put the EU on track for climate neutrality by 2050 and for meeting its Paris Agreement obligations. The Carbon Border Adjustment mechanism will help ensure others will follow Europe’s lead. By next summer the Commission will revise all of the EU’s climate and energy legislation to make it ‘fit for 55′.
The President further announced that 30% of the €750 billion #NextGenerationEU budget will be raised through green bonds. And 37% funding will be invested in European Green Deal objectives, including ‘lighthouse’ European projects – hydrogen, green building and 1 million electric charging points. She called for a new ‘European Bauhaus’ as a co-creation platform for architects, engineers and designers, to launch the architectural style of our times, reflecting our aspirations to make Europe the first climate neutral continent.This is a plan for a true recovery. It is an investment plan for Europe. And this is where NextGenerationEU will make a real difference.
A target of 30% of NextGenerationEU’s 750 billion euro to be raised through green bonds. Secondly, NextGenerationEU should invest in lighthouse European projects with the biggest impact: hydrogen, renovation and 1 million electric charging points.She mentioned her visit the beginning of Septemebr toa fossil-free steel pilot that will replace coal with hydrogen to produce clean steel. In addition she indicated that “NextGenerationEU (needs to) create new European Hydrogen Valleys to modernise our industries, power our vehicles and bring new life to rural areas.
Photo courtesy of Hyundai: first 1000 H2 trucks shipment to Switzelrand,2020)