European Green Deal: Green Deal: Objectives, implementation, challenges
22 September 2022
Climate and Energy Policy
29 September 2022
By Marc Ringel
With almost 80% of European greenhouse gas emissions being related to energy production and use [1], the promotion of clean energy is at the heart of the climate transition foreseen in the European Green Deal [2]. The European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is the biggest annual event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use in Europe. It brings together public authorities, private companies, NGOs, researchers and consumers [3].
Speakers from the European Commission underlined the commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 as proposed by the Green Deal. The discussions of the latest REPowerEU proposals showed that decarbonisation by means of renewable energies and energy efficiency must progress at a much steeper pace than envisaged before. To that aim, the present negotiations on the update of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) have seen proposals from the European Parliament to update the target for renewable energy use for 2030 from 40 to 45% and from 9% to 13% (or 14.5%) as regards energy savings [4].
Following on the policy conference opened by EU Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson [5], several thematic sessions addressed fields like building efficiency, deployment of renewable energy sources or the mobilisation of finance and citizen engagement. Key parts of the conference are recorded [6] and can be accessed following the detailed programme of the conference [7].
[1] See figures from the European Environment Agency, https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/specification.2010-08-09.2026605593/assessment-1
[2] Green Deal communication; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1588580774040&uri=CELEX%3A52019DC0640
[3] https://sustainable-energy-week.ec.europa.eu/index_en
[5] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/simson_en