Today, 25th of October 2018, the European Parliament voted on its position prior to the COP24 in Katowice, Poland, later this year. Key points of this vote include a rejection of an absurd Recital which wrongfully dismissed the value of Carbon Capture and Storage in climate change mitigation, and a paragraph calling on the Commission to increase its emissions reduction targets from 45% to 55% compared to 1990 levels.

Bellona’s President and Founder, Frederic Hauge, had this to say after the vote:

“Today’s vote marks a vital victory for all those fighting for evidence-based, ambitious climate policy. MEPs have sent a decisive signal to the European Commission that they not only want greater ambition on climate targets in the forthcoming Long Term Strategy, but also that they recognise the vital role that CCS technologies will have to play in reducing industrial emissions. For too long, DG CLIMA has fallen back on the lazy assumption that because CCS progress in Europe has been slower than expected, we therefore can’t rely on it in the future. The science tells us otherwise and now the Parliament has challenged the Commission to re-think its approach to this important technology, while also calling for a more ambitious target of reducing emissions to 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. Nonetheless, the vote was close, implying more work is needed to disseminate scientific research and the importance of this technology, which plays a critical role in all pathways which are in line with the Paris Agreement.”